The Tenth Guardian
by Crazy7634
Summary: A beast not seen in thousands of years has awoken. The world it wakes to is not the same as the one it had seen before its forced slumber. That didn't matter to the creature, for the only thing on its mind... was the world's destruction. Four certain residents of Ooo aim to defeat the monster before it roams free, but will they be able to stop it before it's too late?
1. Chapter 1

**Yo! Crazy7634, here. So, for those who have followed and favorited me due to my three other stories, you might know that I haven't been all that active in quite a while. Well, that's because this idea was stuck in my head. Every time I tried to continue writing the next chapters of my other stories, this would always block my train of thought. I assure you though, those will be coming out soon enough. But to those who haven't read any of my stories, I implore you to do so and maybe notify me of any mistakes that I have made in any of them. They are three crossover fanfics, one is Naruto and Steven Universe, the other is Naruto and Gravity Falls, while the last one is Naruto and Digimon. As you probably have noticed, I am quite a Naruto fan… *chuckles nervously*. Just to let those who for some reason haven't seen the mini-series "Stakes", this story follows through that. Anyway, without further ado, I introduce to you the first chapter of… The Tenth Guardian.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything, especially Naruto and Adventure Time.**

* * *

Chapter 1 – Remembrance of an Old Friend

"MARCELINE!" Finn yelled, running towards the windmill. His legs burning as he pushed them to their limit, mentally wishing that he would reach his friend in time. In a stroke of bad luck, his foot hit a rock and he tripped, falling face first into the dirt. The blonde futilely stretched his arm towards the Vampire Queen's form, as if it would extend just like Jake's. "No!"

Marceline stared at the rapidly rising sun with slight fear in her eyes, she snapped her head towards her fallen friend and shouted. "Finn, burn all my diaries! Do NOT let anyone read them, they're embarrassing!"

She tensed and winced as she waited for the agonizing pain encompass her, writhing slightly in her restraints. The vampire clenched her eyes shut as the brightness of the giant star became too painful to bare and looked away, screaming as a white light filled her sight.

* * *

[Flashback]

[Marceline, Age 6]

A dark-skinned woman wearing a green cardigan, a white undershirt and ripped jeans sat behind the table of her trailer, cradling her half-demon child in her arms. She stared out into the horizon, recounting a tale to her worried daughter.

"…and that's how I met your dad." She finished, running a hand through her child's hair soothingly. The little girl who wore pink and purple pyjamas looked up at her mother, clutching her parent's arm a bit tighter.

"Mom, he still hasn't come home… I'm worried." She whispered out. "Can we please go out and look for him?"

Her mother sighed at the request and gave her a sad smile. "I'm sorry Marceline, but it's a bit too dangerous for you to go outside. Besides, it's nap time."

Marceline pulled her mother's arm over her head, sat up on her knees and turned to face her parent. "But I can't sleep yet, he's still out there!"

The woman wrapped an arm around the girl and looked at her with an apologetic expression on her face. "Sweetie, I-"

As she was about to speak, she was cut off when she heard the trailer's pet door squeak open before slamming shut. Both hers and Marceline's eyes widened, the half-demon instantly broke out of her mother's embrace and ran towards the golden fox kit who had walked in.

"You're back-!" Her breath hitched in her throat as her hands flew up to her mouth in shock when she saw that her animal friend was limping and had cuts littering his frame. Gently, she picked him up placed him on her lap. "What happened?!"

Hearing her daughter gasp and seeing the blood oozing down the young fox's face, she quickly went to the kitchen area. She grabbed a metal box with a red cross on the front and wet a rag before kneeling by the duo's side. She looked at the animal with a worried gaze as she inspected his wounds. She dabbed the blood away and opened the first-aid kit, reaching for the roll of gauze and box of bandages. As she patched him up, she saw the bite mark on his tail and sighed.

"You went into the forest and fought the other animals there again, didn't you?" she said in an accusing tone, narrowing her eyes at the small fox kit. The fox winced at her exclamation and refused to look at Marceline, knowing that she was looking at him with a disappointed stare, just as she always did whenever he did this. Marceline scratched him behind his ear.

"Why do you always go out to fight… you're always hurt when you return." She mumbled. The fox leaned into her hand and spoke.

 **"They always roam around your home… always waiting for the right moment to strike. Better to take care of them now than later."** He purred out, the green crystal necklace around his neck shining. The little girl frowned and pursed her lips.

"So what? I don't want you to do that anymore… you're my best friend, I don't like it when you're hurt." She responded, tears beginning to appear in the corners of her eyes and her hands clenched into fists. The golden fox nuzzled into the girl's stomach, as an attempt to calm her down. Marceline's mother watched them with a small smile before picking the two up and walking back to where she and her daughter had been seated earlier.

"Shh, shh… okay you two, enough with those thoughts and let's put you to sleep." She sat down, her daughter lying on her lap while the fox was on the child's stomach. They seemed to have been drifting off when a wolf staring at the trailer caught the fox's eye from outside the window. He growled lowly and jumped onto the table, glaring at the beast he had been fighting earlier; his circular pupils turning into vertical slits while his fur spiked up. Marceline sat up, staring at her friend worriedly. The human woman sighed, pulling her daughter back onto her lap and plucking the animal off of the table, giving him to her child to hug. "Alright, it's time to calm down now."

Patting them on the heads, she began to sing. "Let's go in the garden, you'll find something waiting. Right there where you left it, lying upside down…"

As she sang, Marceline's eyes slowly closed as she began to fall asleep, hugging the animal closer to her chest. The fox blinked as his red angered eyes morphed back to their normal azure, his fur stopped standing and turned back into its usual soft appearance. His eyes closed as the song lulled both him and Marceline into deep slumber.

* * *

[Flashback Timeskip]

[Marceline, Age 11]

"Simon… please, don't leave! You can't go away too! I don't know where that stupid fox went off to for the past few months, but he probably won't be coming back. If you go away, I'll be all alone!" An older Marceline wearing a long-sleeved brown jumper, dark blue pants and purplish boots pleaded for the blue-skinned man in front of her to not leave. As the frozen particles fell down from the sky, it covered the broken city in a thick coat of snow. The bespectacled male didn't have the courage to look back and see the no doubt broken-hearted look on the girl's face and merely tightened his grip on the handles of his dogsled.

"I have to… it's the only way I can protect you." He spoke lowly, his eyes staring at the snow beneath his feet. His reply only managed to sadden the girl even more.

"How can you protect me when you're not even here?!" Marceline exclaimed, raising her hands in the air to emphasise her point. Simon lifted his head up, staring at the snowy landscape.

"I've arranged for someone to look after you… I'll make sure that he doesn't leave." Simon mumbled, lifting his hand up and forced sparks of ice to come to life at his fingertips before making them disappear.

The half-human looked sadly at the cursed man, tears about to fall from her eyes. "Please… I can help you with this."

The ivory-haired man chuckled hollowly, finally turning around to face the girl. "Hah… you know, maybe someday you will. But until then, I'm too dangerous for you to be around. Stay safe."

He brought his hand up to her face and was wiping a tear off when he accidentally froze it into a small, spiky ice ball and dragged it across her face, making her hiss at the pain of the tiny cut he had created. Simon flinched, he immediately took a step back away from her and turned back to the dogsled. "I-I have to go now. Goodbye Marceline."

"What- No! Wait!" Marceline yelled out, her eyes widening when he suddenly urged the canines hooked to his sled to run. She tried to go after him, but her foot sunk into the snow, preventing her from moving. "Simon… Simon!"

Said man kept his clenched his eyes shut, trying to block out Marceline's pained screams of his name. The girl let her head drop, tears flowing out of her eyes. She was all alone now, no one was there by her side. She stayed there for a few minutes before she began to try and pull her foot free of its icy prison. After a few tries, she placed her hands down by her sides and cried at the futility.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, WHOA!"

Her eyes snapped open and she used her sleeve to wipe her tears away when she heard the yells emanating from behind her. She gasped in shock when she saw an odd man wearing a suit riding on a large, bright yellow fox that was a metre taller than her. In a few seconds, they were at her location, the canine noticing her predicament. It bent its neck low and gently clamped its fangs onto the back of her collar, slowly lifting her up from the snow. Once it put her down, she spun around and hugged its neck, burying her face into its soft fur.

"You came back…" She mumbled. The fox grinned down at her, the crystal tied to his neck glinting slightly while the pointy-eared man on his back said nothing as he was still trying to regain his bearings.

 **"Why wouldn't I? You know I'd never leave you unless it's because of something important."** Marceline just nodded absentmindedly, happy that her friend had returned.

* * *

[Flashback Timeskip]

[Marceline, Age 18]

"Come on big guy, we need to go faster!" Marceline whooped as her fox companion, who was now nearly twice her size, ran through a deserted town as he followed the sound of laughter echoing in the air. A red axe was strapped to her back and her hair was styled into a mohawk. The teenaged half-human wore a furry trench coat, black shorts, an orange shirt and matching orange boots while gauze was wrapped around her arms and legs. The fox jumped over a fallen zombie monster and skidded to a stop in front of an old blood donation truck. The female hopped off of his back and slid down a tail smoothly before opening the door to the back compartment of the vehicle. The moonlight lit up the inside of the truck and showed a small, giggling, one-toothed creature.

"Peek-a-pop!" It exclaimed, using its ability to fly to dodge the stake Marceline had attempted to stab him with. "You found me, now you're it!"

"This isn't some kind of game, Fool!" Marceline growled at the flying being, pointing an accusatory finger at him. "You're a freaking bloodthirsty vampire, I'm trying to kill you!"

The oddly elf-like vampire, however, went on as if she never said anything in the first place. "Hey, you wanna see something funny?"

The Fool sucked a large amount of air in, causing his cheeks to expand due to the large influx of air. "I look like a butt!"

He blew a raspberry, making the half-demon teen glare at him in irritation. Hearing muffled laughter by her side, she looked and saw her best friend rolling on the ground, trying not to guffaw loudly. He felt her gaze and instantly stopped his snickering when he spotted the look she was giving him at the corner of her eye. He sat up on his haunches and coughed into a fisted paw, forcing himself to calm down.

 **"*ahem* Sorry, sorry…"**

Marceline turned her gaze back to The Fool, who was now floating in front of her face and shoved the stake in her hand straight through his chest, making the vampire explode into glittering particles. She coughed and waved The Fool's soul dust away from her face before staring curiously at the bluish cloud.

"Huh?" Marceline sniffed the cloud and opened her mouth, sucking the soul into her. She felt The Fool's power flow through her veins and her body slowly floated upwards. She smiled while the fox just tilted his head in interest. "Cool… well, that's one more down. Let's go."

She pulled her axe bass to her front and scratched another line into her weaponized guitar as she floated off, the fox following after her silently, his tails waving along to the tune she played.

* * *

[Flashback Timeskip]

[Marceline, Age 19]

A yellow fox kit and a white poodle rolled around in the forest's grass, wrestling each other playfully, making sure not to accidentally knock down their half-demon friend's tent. Marceline watched them mess around, an amused smile on her face. She was now one year older, her hair was still styled in a Mohawk and she currently wore a brown singlet, ripped black pants and orange boots. Her axe was imbedded into a tree stump nearby and she was fastening a lasso out of a rope she had found earlier. She laughed and shook her head when the two accidentally ate a couple blades of grass. Marceline looked at the carrot she had left out in the open earlier and hurriedly placed the circular part of her finished lasso around the vegetable when she saw long white ears poking out of the bushes a couple of metres away. She ducked her head behind the bushes that hid their camp and kept focus on the bunny nearby.

"Come on… go get the juicy carrot." After a few moments of staring, Marceline sighed in exasperation and tugged the lasso back to her. "Stupid animal…"

She swung the rope above her head and let it fly towards the oblivious creature after a few rotations. She heard the bunny let out a squawk of confusion and surprise; it turned its head and Marceline saw that it wasn't a bunny at all… it was a human.

"O-Oh, I'm sorry!" She quickly walked over to the confused girl and gently took the lasso off. "Hold still… there you go. See? It's okay."

The girl grew a small smile and she gave her a grin back. The small human's eyes widened and she sprinted away screaming in fear after seeing Marceline's fangs. The half-demon reached towards the girl.

"Wait, kid! It's okay, I'm a really good… person." Marceline called out, floating after the frightened child. Her largest animal partner heard the screams and poked his head out of the bushes. After seeing her fly off, he turned towards the smaller canine who sat at their camp. The two shared nods of understanding, and the fox leapt after her. He slowed to a stop when he saw Marceline conversing with the scared humans, observing them from the shadows.

"…go away, vampire." The male human who seemed to be the leader of the group stuttered out nervously, pointing a marshmallow impaled on a stick at Marceline as if it was a weapon.

"Dude, I'm not a vampire! I'm literally in the flippin' sunlight!" She yelled, her outburst causing the group to drop everything in their hands before deserting their camp. Marceline sighed, bringing a hand up to her sharp demonic teeth, staring sadly at bushes that the humans had ran through to get away from her. She heard a grunt and saw her fox friend standing by her side as he grew to her height. He nuzzled her in the stomach comfortingly, making a smile grow on her face. She scratched him behind the ear before floating back towards their make-shift base. "Come on, we've had enough rest. Let's pack up."

The duo went back to the camp and picked up Schwabl along with her axe and trench coat before walking off into the forest to search for the humans that they had scared off. They trailed the group of animal-hat wearing humans for hours, watching them while they set up camp for the night as the sun set, making sure that no vampires came to harm them. Marceline sat behind a big group of bushes, Schwabl resting beside her while her other canine partner was curled around her form protectively, his tails acting as a makeshift blanket while his body was like a soft, furry bed. She heard the leader start singing a familiar song. After listening to a few off-key lyrics, she started to sing the song herself, her companions opening their closed eyes to look up at her.

"…but sometimes things get turned around and no one spared. All hands look out belo-o-ow, there's a change in the status quo-o-o. Gonna need all the help that we can ge-" The vampire hunter was interrupted by a cough and the bunny girl from earlier had walked out of the bushes, offering Marceline a leg of meat. She took it and turned her gaze from the girl, to the food and then to the girl again. The rabbit child pointed at the leg and made guitar playing movements and sounds. "You… want me to play more?"

"Yes, please." Marceline twisted her head to look behind her, seeing the rest of the humans gathered up around the bush she had been hiding behind. "My consensus is that your cover is better."

Marceline smiled, and began to play again, the music lulling her canine friends back to their naps as their tails moved along to the tune. "According to our new arrival, life is more than mere survival…"

* * *

[Flashback Timeskip]

[Marceline, Age 21]

The vampire hunter calmly walked through the autumn woods, Schwabl trotting at her side. Marceline still wore her furry trench coat, brown shirt. The colour of her orange boots had faded slightly over the years and she now wore black shorts instead of pants. Her hair had grown and she tied it up into two short ponytails at the front of her ears. She was playing her axe bass when the sound of a stick snapping reached her ears. Marceline smiled, closing her eyes and continued to play her guitar. As she floated towards her destination, she nonchalantly spoke to the zombie poodle beside her.

"Oh man, Schwabl. I sure hope there isn't a little vampire kid sneaking up behind me." The tiny audible footsteps grew louder as the would-be assailant grew closer. The young bunny girl threw secrecy out the window and pounced on the half-demon.

"VAMPIRE ATTACK!" She cried, two leaves that she had put in her mouth to appear as fangs poked out of her lips. Marceline laughed and playfully yelled out her death.

"Oh nooo! *choking noises* Eck, I am dead." She closed her eyes and let her head drop limply, a smirk on her face. She heard the girl on her back spit out the leaves in her mouth and craned her neck to look at her when she spoke.

"Seriously Marceline, what if I really was a vampire? You need an animal hat!" Marceline only chuckled in response, floating out of the forest and through the leaves of a tree, Schwabl quickly sprinting to try and catch up to them. She and the younger girl stared up at the monstrous contraption currently floating on the ocean.

"Well, seems like the project's nearly finished, eh?" The axe-wielding woman said, flying up to the deck of the enormous ship. She whistled, waking up the fox sleeping in the corner and getting the humans' attention. "Two-Bread Tom, how's it going?"

"It's going great! This ship is nearly done. By my calculations, we should be able to sail away in a day or two." He said, grinning at the setting sun.

"O-Oh… that's great. But, you know, I've nearly cleared out almost all the vampires that are left. I-If you just give me a week or so, I'll be able to take all of them out, then there'll be no need for you guys to go away. Yeah, Marceline!" She said, letting out the "discrete" cheer to herself afterwards. Two-Bread Tom pivoted back to face her, giving the 21-year-old an apologetic look.

"*sigh* Marceline, you're such a good kid. But it ain't just the vampires making us want to hightail it outta here. Our atmospheric readings are going cuckoo, something's gonna happen that'll change all this here." He claimed, raising his arms up and gesturing to the landscape around them. "We don't know what it is, or what it might be, but we know that it's gonna be big. Best to just leave this whole continent while we still can. You know, you could come too if you want. You are one of us, after all."

Before Marceline could reply to his offer, a bell being shaken in a panicked way on the beach caught their attention. They hurriedly went to the side of the ship and peered down to see what the commotion was about. They saw a deer hat man ringing the bell yelling out, "They're here, they're here!"

Marceline gritted her teeth when she saw a vampire bite the man's hat, she hastily took the stake she hid in her coat and flew down by the man's side, stabbing it through the blood-sucking beast's chest. She spotted many more emerging from the woods and blurred through three of them, stabbing them in quick succession as she flew past. Marceline hovered in the air when she saw seven more running towards the ship and swiftly zig-zagged through them, making them disperse into shining dust using the stake in her hand.

 _'Hmm… that was easy. Too easy.'_ She thought suspiciously. The half-demon's ears twitched slightly and she perked up when she heard the sound of Two-Bread Tom shouting. Marceline quickly returned back to the deck of the ship, only to see someone who had been impersonating Schwabl transform back to their usual appearance. It turned out to be a pale man with horns, a moustache and bat ears. He had a thick, fur coat on and wore shiny ebony boots.

"Aww, so you got me. How did you figure it out? Did my boots give it away again?" He chuckled before his figure expanded and became disfigured, shapeshifting into an enormous, black, tentacle monster. The vampire was about to bring a tentacle arm down to crush the humans when a golden twister shaved a part of his tentacle clean off. "Aagh!"

He brought the arm back and stared at the stump, his shocked aquamarine eyes turning their gaze from the injured appendage to the massive yellow fox growling at him from below. **"You ain't getting these humans, Hierophant."**

"But if you're here, then that means…" The Hierophant looked towards the forest where he had sent minions to attack from and saw Marceline hovering above the deck's railing. "…Marceline!"

He hurriedly transformed his arms and legs into those of a bat's and propelled himself backwards, avoiding a bite from the golden quadruped. He saw movement in the corner of his eye and morphed his fingers into blades, blocking the stab Marceline aimed at his heart.

"Hello, Hierophant." She said mockingly. Said vampire narrowed his eyes and frowned, struggling to keep the stake away from his chest.

"W-Why can't you just let us feed on the blood of humans? You are being a nuisance to the cycle of life! We vampires rule the night, it's our time!" He grunted. Marceline smirked at him.

"Not anymore. It's my time now, and once I gain your shapeshifting powers, I'm gonna be unstoppable!" She pushed herself away from Hierophant by kicking off of his chest, blocking the swipes he threw at her with the stake. She was about to speak, but the vampire interrupted her by slicing her in half by the waist. Marceline chuckled at the old-fashioned male's shocked face when the two halves of her body merged together, not leaving behind any scars. "Surprised? I picked up enhanced regenerative powers around about a month ago from some woman whose head looked like a garden trowel."

Hierophant's hand blades were no more, instead he now had butterfly-like wings on his back. He clicked his tongue and huffed in annoyance. "So, you've slain The Moon. Tch, you're just a half-breed punk, someone who doesn't even know the price you are supposed to pay in order to obtain such powers."

Marceline rolled her eyes, replying in a mocking copy of Hierophant's accent. "Bleh, I don't care!"

"So be it…" the horned vampire morphed his entire arm into a snake, sending it jaws-open after Marceline. The female giggled as she turned herself invisible, escaping the snake's fangs. "Show yourself!"

"Okay!" He heard a feminine laugh behind him and cursed when he felt a stake stab him in the heart from behind. "Wah, wah!"

The man exploded into a cloud, which Marceline immediately sucked up. She felt her body gain Hierophant's power and tested it out by changing her fingers into blades, something that she had seen him do earlier. "Hah, awesome!"

Before she could test her new power even more, she heard Schwabl beginning to bark at the now foggy forest. She felt something enter her mind and instantly knew who the figure obscured by the mist was. She turned to her two canine companions. "You two, get everyone below deck and protect them."

Marceline floated down to Two-Bread Tom and took her axe out of his grasp. The human leader looked at her worriedly. "What's wrong?"

She tightened her grip on the handle of her weapon, glaring at the being in the forest. "You have to go, it's not safe for you to be on the deck. He's here and he's the worst of them all… the Vampire King."

Everyone but Marceline and the canines gasped in surprise. Once they had heard the information, they quickly rushed to the stairs that led to the cargo hold, Schwabl joining them with the fox following behind. The golden animal looked back at his half-human companion as she stared down the Vampire King who now stood on the railings at the other side of the ship. His azure eyes widened when he saw the King make small hand movements along with the large tentacle of water heading straight for Marceline's back. He sent a black ball of energy at the King and then, as fast as his legs could carry him, ran towards his best friend. He jumped onto the railings and launched himself straight at her, pushing her away from the blast and taking the brunt of the attack. He was thrown into the deck of the ship, his head colliding with a mast harshly as his body made an indentation in the ship's wooden floor, the force of the blow knocking him unconscious. Marceline's breath hitched in her throat and she blurred to his side. She knelt down and placed her axe beside her feet, inspecting the fox's limp form. The fur on his back had been violently torn off by the tendril of water, showing pink skin that was bleeding slightly. His left hind leg was angled in a broken way and blood was sliding down from the wound he had sustained on his head from the collision with the mast. The vampire hunter's hands clenched into fists, her mouth forming a snarl in her anger. She snapped her head to the Vampire King, her eyes burning with rage.

"Hmph. Well, what do you know? That bothersome fox of yours does have some usefulness in him." He cackled, making a blob of water rise with a single hand motion.

Marceline's eyes twitched in irritation, the slight shift of her foot was the only thing the King saw before she picked up her bass and blurred into nothing. He sensed her presence behind him and held a palm out, coaxing the water to form a dome around him, halting the stake's movements towards his heart as well as breaking the weaponized instrument in half. He folded his palm into a fist and the dome reconstructed itself into hand, grabbing Marceline before throwing her to the left of the ship. She crashed into the metal wall by the captain's steering wheel. The 21-year-old placed a hand on the metal, clutching her pounding head with the other. The Vampire King however, gave her no chance to recover and flicked his wrist, sending blades of water at her. Marceline flinched when she saw the attack and only just managed to escape it with minor cuts. Her eyes bore into Vampire King's skull as he teleported to the other side of the ship. Her right hand tightened its grip on the handle of her now broken axe while her left held the stake in a reverse grip. The King crossed his arms over his chest, his pristine white suit was ripped in several places due to the ball that had exploded on his chest earlier.

"You've got power, that I can see. But unlike us, you haven't paid a price for it. It's going to drive you insane. You have already staked my people and my court, I am the only one that is left. Are you really going to wipe out an entire race?" He said, calmly standing on the top of a large chimney.

Marceline's black orbs narrowed, growling as she responded. "After all the innocent humans you have killed just to feed, after the agony your race has caused others… and after what you have just done to my best friend. Yes, I am."

"If that is your choice…" The young woman didn't say anything, opting instead to fly upwards and meet the King in combat. "I gave you a chance Mar-"

"-I don't care!" She interjected, clashing with the Vampire King at the centre of the ship. The duo crashed down into the ship's deck, their harsh landing luckily not creating a sizable crater. They snarled at each other as they fought for dominance, Marceline's stake only a centimetre from the vampire's heart.

"You know, Marceline. There is another way for my species to live on…" He started, smirking down at her as his fangs elongated. Marceline's eyes widened in realization and she began to struggle even more.

"Wait- No. No! NO!" She screamed as the Vampire King bit down on her neck, her mindset altering into that of a creature who feasts on blood in the moonlight while the stake in her hands glowed, the weapons piercing through the King's chest.

* * *

[Flashback End]

"-AAAH… huh?" Marceline stopped screaming when she noticed that her body didn't feel as if it had been set on fire. She tentatively opened her eyes, staring cautiously at her surroundings. She gasped when she saw smoke sizzle from her neck and felt the holes that had been made by the Vampire King's fangs hundreds of years ago fill up. "I-I'm not dead? Then that means… PB's cure worked!"

She watched as Finn and the villagers began to untie her, oblivious to the fact that the green crystal necklace hidden by her shirt was glowing faintly and that a beast sleeping in a place unknown cracked its eyes open from its slumber.


	2. Chapter 2

**Yo! Crazy7634, here! So, yeah, I know that it's been quite a while since I last updated, but I have a reason for that. At first, I had intended to put up new chapters of each of my stories at once. Unfortunately, writer's block had a different plan. Due to the block, I have been having great difficulty in writing new chapters… BUT, I have managed to overcome it slightly and have managed to conjure content for both this story and my Naruto + Gravity Falls one, "Gravity Falls: Legend of the Nine-Tailed Guardian". Also, for those who are fans of my other stories, "A Second Chance" and "Son of Two Dragons", I assure you that chapters for those will be available shortly. Now, without further ado, I present to you the second chapter of… The Tenth Guardian.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything, especially Naruto and Adventure Time.**

* * *

Chapter 2 – The Fox's Gift

"…Jake, are you sure this is what one of them looked like?" a half-demon, half-human and now ex-vampire female asked, turning to the yellow-orange magic bulldog beside her. She had short black hair and wore a short-sleeved grey top, blue jeans and grey shoes. A piece of paper depicting a rectangular object with a frowny face on it was clutched in her left hand while the right unconsciously rubbed the area where her vampire bite had been at.

Jake squirmed in his seat nervously. "Yeah, how could I forget? The guy was wearing a white suit and had a cape on his back. His feet looked kinda like the ones that you'd see on a chicken and his arms were all scaly and clawed… Oh! He also had some sort of crown made of sticks on his head."

"Of all the things that could have been creating this mess, it had to be them…" Marceline muttered under her breath, gazing at the face on the paper. She looked up, a concerned frown on her face when she stared at her friends. They may have fought in many battles before now, and while two of them literally fought bad guys for a living, she wasn't all too sure if they could handle the Vampire King and his court… especially if they had managed restore themselves to full power in the short amount of time they had been reformed. "This is bad, you guys. Those vampires Jake saw? They were the five strongest vampires to ever live. If they're out there, then we'll have to take them out before they can fully recover their power. Who knows what destruction they'll bring into Ooo, especially that now they aren't used to preparing for nightly sieges. Worst part is, the vamp that Jake described? He was the Vampire King himself."

Her final sentence made the others gasp, the only canine in their group shivered in fear. He didn't know that he was so close to such a dangerous being, the knowledge that he was definitely didn't help with his fear of the blood-sucking race. Hearing her speak, Jake turned to Princess Bubblegum who was dressed in a white striped jumper with rolled-up sleeves, brown shorts and red sneakers while her long, pink hair was tied up in a ponytail.

"Well, if they're as strong as you say they are, then how do you suppose we fight them?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest. But before Marceline could reply, they were interrupted by a harsh cough, their heads turning to the source; Peppermint Butler.

"If I may," He said, dropping a thick roll of cloth onto the wooden floor. He untied the knot of the string holding it in place, revealing a large arsenal of vampire hunting tools, smirking when he heard their gasps of awe. "The weapons here are strong enough to defeat an ultra-vampire and will do you well in your quest."

The youngest person in the room, Finn, let out a "whoa" at the collection of items. He was a full-blood human wearing a white hat, a blue shirt and dark blue shorts with black shoes while a green backpack was strapped to his back. Finn and Jake knelt down beside the butler, the teen pointing at various objects. "Look Jake, there's a two-pronged stake… a stake boomerang… and a vial of holy water!"

"Yes, but what is this behind your ear I see?" The peppermint smiled at their reactions and reached behind Finn's ear, gasping dramatically when he pulled out a big glass orb filled with greenish liquid and garlic cloves. "Oh! It's a super-garlic bomb-!"

"-Pepps, why do you have all this vampire stuff hanging around?" Bubblegum interjected, raising an eyebrow at her butler.

"Well, I have all these weapons, _painstakingly s_ tockpiled in case Ooo's resident ex-vampire had decided to turn on us for some random reason before her curing." the candy man said, giving the princess a deadpan stare.

"Pepps!"

"No, no… he's right. Before you cured me, I could have easily just gone nuts and took you guys down at any point in time." Marceline said nonchalantly, causing the already-shivering Jake to faint. Finn turned to look at his passed out brother.

"Uhm, Jake? You there, buddy?" The human tried to shake the magical dog awake to no avail. "Come on, bro. Wake up!"

PB turned to a snickering Marceline with a "really?" look. "Distractions and laughter aside. Thanks to Peppermint Butler, we now have our weapons. But how are we supposed to look for them? At this point in time, we're not sure if they're still in the cave that Jake saw them in earlier."

"Yeah, the chances of them still being there ARE quite low…" Marceline muttered, rubbing the back of her head in thought. "But it's the only lead we've got. Finn, since Jake is still out of commission, do you think you can take us to the cave?"

The human hoisted his brother on his shoulder and stood up, giving the females a thumbs up.

* * *

[One Long Walk Later]

Marceline narrowed her eyes when she the spotted tiny drops of blood along with animal indentations in the dark cave's floor. She spun on the balls of her feet and started to slowly make her way outside of the cavern. _'They were definitely the ones who took the livestock away alright. Judging from the amount of animal imprints here and that there are five of them in their little posse, they still haven't consumed enough blood to restore themselves to full strength. That's good. Their lack of energy should help us during upcoming clashes against them. But there's something tugging my mind… I guess HE's nearby.'_

She was brought out of her musings when her eyesight was filled with bright sunlight. She raised her hand to cover her eyes slightly and blinked away the spots that appeared in her vision. Once she could see clearly again, she whistled, calling for Finn, Jake, Peppermint Butler and Princess Bubblegum to come out of their hiding places.

"Sooo…?" Bonnibel inquired, making a rolling motion with her hand to urge Marceline to talk.

"Nothing. They've left the area."

"Just as we thought… well, there weren't any signs of them being out here either." Bonnie sighed. She tilted her head down and rubbed her chin in thought. "Maybe we should split up? It would be easier to find tracks or clues as to where their whereabouts may be that way."

Marceline narrowed her eyes, a slight disapproving frown on her face. "Hmm, alright… but make sure you guys watch your backs. They may not be at full health, but they still have enough strength to mess you up."

"Hah, don't worry about us Marceline. We're ready for anything!" Finn yelled confidently, pumping his fist up in the air. Unfortunately, this lead to the garlic bomb being held in his other arm to nearly slip off, causing him to panic as he managed to _just_ catch the fragile item before it fell. He looked up at the uncertain ex-vampire, chuckling in a nervous way while blushing embarrassedly at the skeptical look she gave him and the others. Marceline walked away at a slow pace, her eyes staying on her friends for as long as possible. After a minute, she turned away and began to scan her surroundings.

"Now, where could those guys be- Ow!" She yelped when her body collided with an unknown force… or rather, an invisible force. She blinked in confusion when she saw that there was something obstructing her path and lifted a hand, placing it against a clear wall. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. This was obviously not natural, and there was only one person that she knew had the ability to do such a thing. "Ah, crud…"

Marceline flinched when she heard a crashing sound and quickly turned towards her friends, sweatdropping when she saw that Finn had dropped the garlic bomb he had been holding earlier, releasing the fumes into the air as well as covering him and Jake in garlic juice. She resisted the urge to facepalm when Peppermint Butler came running towards them to help, only to slip on the spilt liquid. Her pointed ears twitched slightly when she heard Bubblegum giggle and called out to her fellow female. "Hey Bonnie! Why don't you go on ahead and take the guys back to the cabin? They aren't in good enough shape to be out hunting vampires at the moment. I'll catch up with you later, I just have to investigate some stuff more and probably create some sort of… mental profile, about who we are going after."

"Sounds good!" PB managed to say in-between giggles before she began to usher the males back towards the small house, urging them on with a motherly tone. "Come on boys, let's get you cleaned up."

Marceline watched them walk away, and once they disappeared from her line of sight, she spun around to face the invisible wall that she had crashed into earlier. "Drop the camouflage already, I know you're there. Even with something like this to hide your stupid mug, it's easy to sense you. After all, your presence is like a stain that Ooo will never be able to get rid of."

The creaking of a door was heard as a rectangular part of the scenery in front of her dislodged itself from the landscape and swung open. The vampire hunter walked in, her mouth forming a snarl once the Vampire King entered her sights. Her eyes narrowed in anger, memories of what he had done to her first friend many centuries ago resurfaced from the back of her mind. She ignored the pang of hurt she felt in her heart at the remembrance of the canine, shaking her head to get rid of the thoughts and focused on the King instead, seemingly ignoring The Fool who flew around her head.

"Hey, it's Marceline! How've you been? Check me out, I'm a big boy now!" He tilted his head to the side in confusion at the lack of reaction. "Are you listening?"

Her left eye twitched as irritation at the small vampire began to bubble up. She kept her eyes on the lion-like being sat on a boulder as she spoke. "I see you're getting your strength back. The blood you and the others drank recently has probably quickened your recovery speed."

The male chuckled. "What harsh words you spoke outside the barrier, Marceline… and yes, it has. It won't be long now…"

"Tch, don't get your hopes up." Marceline scoffed. "Things have changed. Vampires no longer rule supreme and the humans are long gone."

The Vampire King sniffed the air, a smile stretching across his face before it disappeared as quickly as it came. "Yes, it also seems that someone is smelling a bit more human herself these days… and surprisingly less canine. A lot less canine. Now that leads me to wonder just what exactly has changed during our… departure from this plain of existence. Besides, you need not to worry. We have chosen to give up on the blood of humans and will feast on animals instead. I hope that this means we can be friends now, Marceline?"

The woman growled and nabbed The Fool from the air, her hand clutching his neck tightly. "It doesn't matter. Whether you pretend to have turned a new leaf or not, it won't fix all the damage you and your species caused centuries ago. The actions you have done to others in the past are more than enough to have you staked millions of times, again and again and again."

The King's face remained emotionless, even when Marceline staked The Fool right in the chest without any remorse. He grew a smirk as Marceline absorbed The Fool's soul once more. "You know the others aren't going to be so easy."

"Oh, really? Then what about you?" Marceline gave a fanged grin as she pounced on the Vampire King, stake in hand. She let out a grunt when she hit nothing and landed on the boulder the male had been sitting on.

"It doesn't have to be like this." He said, appearing a meter or so away from his previous position.

"Hah, those are some stupid last words, ya know that?" She pressed her feet against the rock and pushed off, spinning in the air as she propelled herself towards her target. The vampire teleported away, now standing on a vertical outcrop and watched Marceline land on her back in the grass. His eyes widened when he felt a slight sting on his cheek, and lifted a hand to ghost over the small cut the half-demon managed to get on him. He heard her laugh and his eyes turned their gaze from the minor injury to the one who caused it. "You've gotten slack. I'm not even going to need my powers for this."

The King's eyes narrowed, a smirk on his face once again. He cupped his chin with his right hand, while his left held onto his right elbow. "You know Marceline, I'm surprised."

She rolled her eyes and let out an aggravated sigh. "What now?"

He dismissed her attitude and continued on. "I'm surprised that you have enough time to mess around… while The Empress is on her way to the Land of Ice and Snow as we speak."

"Land of Ice and Snow…?" She muttered, wondering what the Empress was aiming to do. There weren't many interesting things there. In fact, the few things that are of some importance in the Land of Ice were snow, penguins and… the Ice King. Marceline gasped realization. "Simon! CRUD!"

She span on her feet and pushed through the invisible barrier, exiting the hidden area. She ran up a few rocks before jumping off a boulder to help launch herself through the treeline, speedily making her way to the Ice King's castle.

* * *

[The Land of Ice]

Since she had already reclaimed The Fool's levitation power, it only took Marceline mere minutes to reach the ice mountain where Simon Petrikov, more often known as the Ice King, resided. She hovered silently and peeked into the castle through one of its hollow eye-holes. She saw a female wearing a plain black dress seated on the Ice King's Throne; it was The Empress. The woman had a long snake wrapped around her neck and waist, the hair on her head was tied in a bun and covered her eyes, and she had what looked to be a rose quartz gem at the centre of the area where her eyebrows would have been, should they have not been covered. Marceline growled lowly in her throat when she heard The Empress laugh mockingly at an entry in her grandfather-figure's diary. The half-human flew to the back of the mountain, entering the castle through a back entrance. Marceline stealthily moved through the inside of the underground area she was in, occasionally hiding behind a few large icicles on her way. She poked her head through a doorway to the throne room and spotted the female vampire still sitting on the frozen seat. Without making a sound, she swiftly glided over to the back of the throne and held the stake above her head, ready to stab it straight through The Empress's heart. Just as she was about to follow through the motion, the Ice King walked in, his robe was off as it was currently being used to restrain the figure in the crazy human's arms.

"Simon!" Marceline immediately abandoned her mission and put the stake away, floating over to the Ice King who promptly dropped the cloaked form he had been holding into the cold floor.

"Marceline?!" The Empress shouted, surprised at her sudden appearance.

Said female ignored her, preferring instead to check the bony magician for any injuries. "Did she do anything to you? Are you hurt? Did she BITE you?"

"Hey, hey, calm down. She didn't do anything. Plus, you're ruining the mood." Simon said, before leaning closer to whisper to her. "As for the biting part, I'm trying to get her to do that later."

One of The Empress's eyes twitched in irritation. "Minion, enough! I'm standing right here and you're colluding against me with my sworn enemy? That's a bit rude."

The Ice King gave her a sheepish smile. "Sorry…"

The kidnapped person, who turned out to be Finn, wiggled out of his prison and grabbed Marceline's stake, charging at The Empress. "I've got your back, Marceline!"

"Finn?" She muttered to herself confusedly. She hadn't realized that he was the one that the Ice King brought back to the castle. Marceline watched as the human raised the stake into the air, closing his eyes when he pulled it down with all his might, intending to get the vampire right in the chest. But since he had taken away his vision, he didn't see his target turn herself invisible and only managed to stab her in the back when she made a move to take off.

"Ow! You dare stake me in the back?!"

"I was aiming for your heart!" Finn bluntly yelled out in response.

"All right, that's it! Minion, capture these two trespassers at once!" She ordered, pointing a finger at Finn. The duo turned to their hypnotized friend with worried looks, not sure if the man would go follow the instructions he had been given. The Ice King gave them both an apologetic smile along with a nervous chuckle, raising his hands up as sparks of ice magic came to life. The two flinched and Marceline grabbed the human's hand, flying away as fast as she could through the ice caverns, Simon not far behind them. He winced at their screaming and spoke up as he chased them through the underground passage.

"Uh, do you guys think you can keep it down? My baby said that she wanted to rest."

Finn looked backed at him with an incredulous look, pausing his shouting for a moment to respond before continuing. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaa- Heck no! -Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

The magician shot a bolt of ice in their direction, only for them to avoid the attack by ducking behind an over-sized icicle. "Come on you guys, be reasonable!"

"Simon, you have to resist her spell!" Marceline called out, pushing herself flat against the icy outcrop.

"I can't! She's a woman!" He retorted, walking over to the icicle he had seen them hide behind. He poked his head to the side of it, expecting to see the people he was after, only to be greeted by air. "AHA- aww…"

Marceline flew past their previous position, holding Finn with one hand as she levitated both him and her behind a bigger spike of ice. "She's a VAMPIRE! I hunt vampires because of you!"

Ice King paused his searching and blinked in confusion. "Because of me?!"

The half-demon sighed. She tilted her head down and stared at the ground beneath her, unconsciously gripping the crystal under her shirt. "When you left, I found it hard to stay alive. Getting around was so much easier when you were still with me. I felt abandoned and a bit depressed. But on a particularly hard day, I saw a small family of humans. They looked so happy… I-I was going to confront them when I spotted a vampire about to strike. I pounced and staked him before he could do any damage… but scared the family away in doing so. After that ordeal I felt even more depressed… if it weren't for Naruto being around, I wouldn't have been able to fully get back on my feet. He helped me through it all. Then, I started to make it my goal to destroy every single vampire, so that the few remaining humans would be protected. Every time I staked one… I felt like I was protecting you. Hunting vampires and his support were the only things that brought me happiness during those years."

Finn silently raised an eyebrow. _'Who's Naruto?'_

The ex-vampire frowned when she felt another pang of sadness hit her heart at the mention of her friend before shaking the thoughts out of her head when she heard Simon beginning to speak.

"Na… ru… to?" He mumbled falling to his knees, a hand clutching his head tightly. Marceline's eyes widened at this and she dropped down to the ground, jogging towards the Ice King's location with a thinking Finn trailing behind. When they got close enough, the old man stood straight up, cackling evilly as he shot beams of ice at their hands. The magic wrapped around the two's wrists and created ice handcuffs attached to a heavy block that forced them to drop to their knees using its weight.

This brought the teen out of his musings and back into reality. "Aw, dang it."

"Please, Simon! You need to remember our history!" Marceline pleaded, crying slightly at the end.

"Our what?" Ice King wondered out loud before an evil laugh caught their attention. The Empress appeared by the Ice King's side, patting his head as if he were a puppy.

"Hahahah… oh, Marceline. I heard everything; I was invisible. These human emotions are starting to get to you. Don't worry, it'll all be over soon. Minion, kill Marceline!"

Ice King's head snapped to her direction with a stupefied expression. "What?! I can't do that, she's my pal!"

The woman placed her hands on her hips. The two faced each other, and began to argue. "Are you disobeying me?!"

"Psst, Marceline!" the vampire hunter turned to her friend after hearing his whisper. "Come on, here's our chance!"

The blonde smashed his skull against the frozen water around his wrists, shattering the binds without sustaining any minor injuries to the head at all. He rolled his wrists a bit to lessen the ache he felt on them before breaking Marceline's restraints just as how he broke his.

 _'How hard is his head? Jeez…'_ She muttered in her mind. She shook her thoughts away and glanced at the still arguing duo. Her eyes slid back to Finn and silently whispered to him "Okay, you distract The Empress, I'll stop her in her tracks."

The cerulean-eyed human nodded and rolled behind the oblivious vampire. He jumped up from his kneeling position and began to yell out random gibberish. The Empress and Ice King stopped arguing and looked at what was causing the commotion. Seeing that the vampire had her back turned, Marceline crept up behind the Ice King and wrapped her arms around his bony ribs. She squeezed, making beams of ice magic burst out of his hands and at the vampire. Unfortunately, The Empress's acute sense of hearing caught the sound or struggling behind her and immediately turned herself invisible after seeing the magic heading towards her. The vampire re-appeared a few centimetres to the left of where she had been before, a frown on her face. The gem holding her hair together glowed and released a ray of sound waves at the two. Marceline flinched at this and put more pressure around Simon's ribs, his hands discharging another stream of ice magic. Try as she might, The Empress failed to overwhelm the power of the crown and fell to her knees.

"Ah, dang it." She mumbled, grunting when the beam hit her and encased her in a dome of ice. Marceline slowly walked towards the vampire, a stake in her left hand while the Ice King was still being carried by her right arm.

"You had this coming…" The raven-haired woman murmured. Ice King's eyes widened at this and he began to struggle in Marceline's grasp. "Wah- Simon! What are you doing?!"

"No!" He broke free of her grip and stood stubbornly in front of the ice dome while Finn walked over to Marceline's side. "If you want to stake her, then you'll have to get through ME first!"

The blonde human sighed and Marceline groaned as she facepalmed, grumbling about troublesome old men. The Empress, at seeing Marceline seemingly distracted, stood up and banged her fist on her prison's wall. "Now, you oaf! KILL HER!"

Ice King gave her a side-glance, a slight sad undertone in his voice. "Sweetie, there's no need to raise your voice."

"WHAT?!" She yelled before letting out an aggravated sigh. She breathed in deeply in order to calm herself down and silently gave the snake around her neck the order to reveal her eyes. "Okay, that's it. Turn around."

Ice King gave a giddy smile at this. "Oh! Are we going to stare into each other's eyes again?"

The vampire ignored this and started to say her chant, her eyes glowing an ominous, pinkish colour. "You must fall deeper into my spell. Sell your spirit to the skies-"

"I can see myself in your pupils." The old man giggled, unintentionally interrupting the woman. At hearing this, the vampire paused the shining and spinning of her eyes, giving the male in front of her a frown.

"You're not even hypnotized… at all."

"Them gigantic sparkly orbs of yours could hypnotize an earclops." He flirted, winking at the deadpanning female.

"Soo… you're not?"

Ice King continued to give her a dazed smile. "Heh, no."

"You stupid donkey." She growled, the snake pushing her hair back into place before retreating back into its hiding spot behind her head. The Empress turned away from the Ice King, crossing her arms.

Simon blinked at this, a hurt look on his face. "H-Honey, why are you being so mean?"

The vampire didn't even look back to face him as she replied. "Because, you're too thick to even fall under my spell. Besides, you got no class."

Ice King's sad expression turned into an angered one as he placed his hands on his hips. Marceline and Finn shared half-concerned and half-confused glances before turning back to watch the scene unfolding in front of them.

"Oh, so you're doing THAT, huh? You gonna start name calling? FINE. If you wanna play the blame game, then FINE! If you weren't so perfect, a-a-and pretty, and statuesque…" Ice King trailed off, his arguments getting weaker as he went on. Finn gave him a small, sad, but understanding smile and walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Come on Simon, it's over. It's going to be okay." He consoled the older male as he cried on his shoulder. The king was about to look back towards the trapped figure but Finn lead him away from the vampire. "No, nope. This way. Come on. Let's go get some ice cream, yeah?"

Marceline gave Simon a somber glance and patted him on the back as he walked past. After seeing the duo walk around a corner, she turned back to The Empress and gave her a sharp glare. "That's the last time you're gonna toy with his heart."

The Empress rolled her eyes from under her hair and let out a disbelieving laugh. "Hah, if you really cared about him, then why did you let him fall into such a low, clown-like character? He used to have more of a silver fox thing going on with his hair and cute glasses… actually, speaking of foxes, where is that golden hunk that always hung around you? Don't tell me you replaced him with that "Finn" human. That canine was pretty good looking, especially when he dropped that animal form of his. They were way happier back then you know… when they were still serving me."

"Raaaah!" The half-demon gave out an enraged growl and aimed to stab the woman in the chest, breaking a large hole in the ice dome in her attempt to do so.

The vampire managed to jump back fast enough to avoid the charge. She whistled at the damage the vampire hunter did to the ice and knew that she would've been at the receiving end of it should she have moved a second too late. "Dang, girl!"

The Empress had to lift her hands up in order to protect herself from the shards of ice that Marceline's second strike broke off. She turned invisible when the hunter pounced on her again, the stake imbedding half of itself into the ice dome at the power she put behind the thrust. Marceline pulled it out and looked around to see where the vampire had run off to, only receive a handful of chipped ice to the face. She fell to her knees and hissed at her still invisible foe. The Empress saw an opening and pinned her to the ground.

"Open those peepers!" she commanded, her snake pulling her hair up once again.

"Eat a stake!" Marceline spat out, glaring at the vampire with as much hatred as she could. This turned out to be a bad move, since the blood-sucker's uncovered eyes had already begun shining and rotating. The Empress laughed when the ex-vampire forced her eyes to close and look away. "No!"

As the member of the Vampire King's court was about to start her chant, an odd ray of energy hit her and prevented her from moving. She felt herself being lifted up and said confusedly, "I don't understand this…"

"Marceline!" They heard a feminine voice yell. The half-human twisted her head to the direction the call had come from and blinked when she saw Finn, Jake and PB, who was holding some sort of gun that was currently releasing the pinkish energy. "Yeah, you're welcome!"

Marceline gave a deadpan stare at Princess Bubblegum's slightly mocking tone. She silently plucked the stake beside her off of the ground and floated up to look the frozen vampire in the eye. She shoved the stake into her heart and sucked up the soul cloud that remained of her. Marceline smirked and her form vanished into thin air. The trio from earlier had just made it to her location and looked around for their hidden friend.

"Umm… Marceline?" Bonnie asked, her eyes darting around the area. They heard a sigh and stood still as Marceline spoke.

"Alright! I shouldn't have tried to go it alone with the vamps… from now on, we do this team-up style."

Bonnibel raised an eyebrow. "Okay, "team". You're still invisible."

"Oh, whoops." Marceline reappeared with her arms on Jake's head. The sudden weight on his skull made the dog yelp in surprise, the four sharing a laugh at the canine's surprised reaction.

"Alright, now that all this is over, how about we go back to my place and plan on who we should go after next? Besides, it looks like you could use a bit of patching up." PB commented, gesturing to the cuts on Marceline's face. The ex-vampire scratched the back of her head sheepishly and nodded in agreement.

* * *

[A Little While Later]

Bubblegum looked on worriedly at Marceline. The half-demon now had a few patches to cover up the cuts on her face and had been sat outside on the porch ever since they had finished bandaging her up. Jake curled up by the couch, snoring quietly as he slept while Finn and Peppermint Butler were fletching more stakes. She turned to the teenaged human when he put the knife and stick in his hands down before lying back on the ground with his arms stretched out.

"Hey Finn?"

The adventurer blinked and tilted his head to her direction. "Yeah? What's up, PB?"

"Did… anything happen, while you and Marceline were dealing with the Ice King and that vampire by yourselves? She's been out there for quite a while now…" The two peered outside the window, staring at the back of Marceline's head.

"Well, other than the usual jump in and kick-some-butt stuff, she did talk a bit more about her past." Finn rubbed his chin in thought. In the background, Jake uncoiled his himself, stretching his body as he yawned before walking over to Finn.

PB stopped her staring and gave Finn a curious gaze. "What did she talk about?"

"Hmm… she said some stuff about her life after Simon left her. Oh yeah! She also mentioned something about a guy named "Naruto"! Do you know who that guy is, Bonnie? I think I've heard of that name before, but I can't remember from where…" He sat up as he tried to rack his brain for the memory of when he had heard the familiar word. He and Jake looked warily at Peppermint Butler and Princess Bubblegum when they flinched and gained dazed looks at the name. "Is… everything alright?"

The princess shook her head out of her thoughts and gave the teen a wavy smile. "Y-Yeah, everything's fine. *sigh* At least now we know why she's acting like this."

"Huh?" Seeing the inquiring look on brothers' faces, she sighed again and elaborated.

"About your other question, Finn, the answer is yes. We do know who Naruto is. As much as we would like to inform you two more about him, it's not our place to do so. But we can say this. Naruto was someone who had been with Marceline ever since she was a little girl; he was her first friend just as how she was his. Heh, there was always some sort of trouble wherever those two went. They had been near-inseparable. Whenever you saw one of them, the other wasn't far behind." Bonnibel trailed off at the end, a melancholic smile on her face.

"Wait, if Marceline and this Naruto guy were "near-inseparable", then how come we've never seen him?" Jake asked, scratching the top of his head with a finger. Bonnie and Peppermint Butler briefly glanced at each other with unsure gazes. Peppermint Butler gave her a nod and turned back to the two knights.

"That would be because something… happened, many centuries ago which lead to his disappearance. We don't know where he is now or… or if he is even still alive."

* * *

[With Marceline]

Marceline sat on the cabin's stoop, staring up at the sky as memories of the past flashed in her mind. She leaned back and laid against the wooden floor, jumping slightly in surprise when a hard object dropped onto the porch's planks, making a loud clattering sound. She picked it up, holding it above her head. Her face grew a fond yet sad smile once she saw that it was the green crystal that her golden-haired friend once wore. As a ray of sunlight shone on the shard, Marceline thought back to when she had first came into possession of it.

* * *

[Flashback]

[A Few Years Ago]

The dark grey clouds began to disperse, little by little. The speed and amount of rain began to lessen and slow, and soon enough, the downpour stopped and the clouds separated to show the beautiful cerulean sky. An ebony-haired woman who wore a grey top and dark-blue jeans along with scarlet boots stared at a human and magic dog as they walked away from their now former home. She stood away from the sunlight, an amused smirk appeared on her unusually pale-blue face, her fangs poking out from under her lips. She let out a small chuckle and paused when a small, sentient robot caught her eye as it climbed down the ladder that lead to the upper floor. It blinked up at her curiously.

"Hello, my name is BMO. Have you seen Finn and Jake? They were not in their bedroom!" It asked her. She stared at the odd, square piece of machinery for a few minutes before reaching for the adorable thing.

"Heh, the name's Marceline the Vampire Queen. Now come here, cutie!" She smiled, making BMO giggle when she picked him up from under his lanky arms. She turned him around, inspecting every inch of the robot. She poked his sides a bit, her smile growing when she heard the little thing giggle uncontrollably. "What are you?"

"Hahaha! Stop that, it tickles!" BMO managed to say through his laughter, his tiny arms and legs thrashed around as he tried to writhe himself out of the vampire's grip. The woman turned him back onto his front and pressed the big red button on what seemed to be his chest. The video shown on the screen on the robot's top half turned to static as it switched from BMO's laughing face to a list of available options. The Vampire Queen arched an eyebrow as her curiosity was piqued. She saw a game called "Kompy's Castle" and was about to press play, when the screen kept flashing the sentence "Please insert controller". She raised her other eyebrow and saw what she assumed to be the controller on the coffee table. Marceline was about to reach for the object when she spotted something in the corner of her eye. She turned her attention to the side of the "Home Sweet Home" sign nailed to the trunk of the tree. Bark had been chipped off of its surface and sunlight coming in from the window made something glint and reflect the light in her direction.

"What is this?" She muttered to herself, she dropped BMO and moved the sign to the side, using her pointer finger to trail the indentation she felt around the sign. It seemed that it hadn't been bark that was scratched off, but paint. Something had been obscured by paint for years. Marceline stared at the lines until her memory kicked in. Her eyes flashed in realization as memories of her, a pink haired lady and a man went through her head. She placed her hand against the small, hidden, metal door; laughing at the memories. "Now I remember… we always used this as a secret little mailbox just for laughs all those years ago."

She pulled the broken sign off and reached into the door's bent corner, gently prying it open, tearing the paint that hid it off. She waved away the dust that was kicked up by the motion, coughing when some of the tiny particles went into her throat. When the secret cubbyhole was open, she was surprised to see that there was a small red box with a yellowed letter attached to it. Marceline dusted the objects off and put the letter down. She opened the case and saw a beautiful, jadeite necklace strung by a strong black rope and had what seemed to be two small silver bells at each of the jewel's side. She gasped at the familiar piece of jewelry and instantly closed the red case, slowly placing it back down onto the coffee table, scared that at the slightest flinch, the object—along with the item inside it—would break into a thousand pieces. She took the letter and opened it gently, reading the slightly faded and smudged words written inside for answers.

 _Happy Birthday, Marceline!_

 _Yeah, yeah, I know. After the centuries we've lived through, birthdays aren't all that fun for you anymore. But hey, it's just for good old times' sake, yeah? You didn't think that those promises that I'd let you make me swear were the only things I would give you for your birthday, did you? Today is the 300_ _th_ _year of your life as well as the 300_ _th_ _day since we met for crying out loud! Of course I'd have more than that. Come to think of it… today also means that been nearly one third of a millennia! Ahh, makes me start reminiscing. Heh, we've always been together through thick and thin. You're my first and greatest friend, and because of this, I'm entrusting you with something that is very important to me. My necklace. It's the only thing I have left of my family whom are long gone. It has always protected me from harm many times and I hope that it will do the same for you. I know that you'll keep it safe and I hope that you've had a great birthday._

 _From your favourite mischievous fox-man, Naruto._

Marceline tightened her grip on the letter slightly, her eyes clenched shut as tears rolled down her cheeks.

[Flashback End]

* * *

 _'If only I could change the past…'_

Marceline gritted her teeth and gripped the crystal tightly in her fist. She sat back up and stared at the setting sun as it let out beautiful shades of yellow, orange and red. After a few minutes of silence, she let out a heavy breath and stood up, rolling her neck to get rid of a few cricks before making her way towards the cabin door. After all, they still had to plan on how they were going to deal with the wayward vampires. As she walked back into the cabin, however, a small tremor rocked the entirety of Ooo for a moment, leaving certain residents of the planet confused and fearful.


	3. Chapter 3

**Yo! Crazy7634, here! So, first of all, thank you to all who followed, favourited and reviewed this story. You guys' support really helps me a lot, and I wish that I had finished this chapter sooner. If it weren't for you guys I would probably have lost interest in writing because of the lack of responses. If you guys spot any mistakes or have any ideas that you'd want to be inputted into the story, feel free to tell me. I'm going to stop here, as I do not want to make this author's note long so that you can go on and head off to read the chapter. Again, sorry for the delay. But now, I present to you, the third chapter of… The Tenth Guardian.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything, especially Naruto and Adventure Time.**

* * *

Chapter 3 - Statues

It was night time. Clouds moved lazily across the black, star-streaked sky. The moon, obscured by a few of the semi-solid puffs of vapour, shone down on a lone cabin situated at the top of a silent hill. The plants and blooming hedges surrounding it were ruffled slightly as the cold night wind blew past. A brown, cat-like creature slinked slowly towards the small cottage, sniffing the air as the scent of peppermint flowed into his nose. The steps of its front legs were as quiet as a mouse while its two hind legs which were, oddly enough, being protected by shiny ebony boots made crunching noises on the crisp grass. Once it reached its destination, the demonic being hopped over the porch steps and sat on its haunches at the quaint home's front door. It peered inside through an uncovered window and watched a short suit-wearing man, who seemed to be made of candy, fluff a small pillow before throwing it back onto a scarlet couch. The monster grew an evil grin and lifted a paw to knock on the door. The action was responded with silence. It knocked again, a bit harsher and louder than the last time, and waited for a few seconds. The ears on the top of its head twitched when the sound of tiny footsteps growing closer was heard. The wooden door creaked open, and the beast looked down at the little candy man.

 **"May I come in?"** It asked in a deep and rugged tone, its voice carrying a stereotypical vampire accent. Its eyes narrowed when the response he was given was mocking laughter.

"Gahahah! You're one of those old-fashioned vampires aren't you, the ones who can't enter the homes of others unless they allow it? Hahah! What did you think was going to happen when you asked for permission to enter? That I was just going to let you in? You old fool!" the peppermint man guffawed out. He back into the house and quickly cut up a single garlic clove. He grabbed the small slices off of the cutting board and threw them at the creature's face, its fur sizzling once the tiny pieces came in contact with its nose. "Here, how about some garlic you blood-sucking beast!"

The transformed vampire snarled and shook the pieces off of its muzzle. Its slitted pupils thinned as the heat signatures of earlier footprints came into view while the rest of the world went dark.

 _'Hmm? No unusually large footprints?'_ It sniffed at the bluish imprints. _'So he really isn't nearby. That is… odd.'_

Peppermint Butler noticed him walk off to follow the group's trail and began to panic.

"H-Hey! Don't go that way! Uhm…" He held his head as he tried to rack his brain for an idea. In a desperate attempt, he hopped out onto the deck and called out to the creature of the night. "Heeeey! Look, I'm not inside the house anymore, come back and get me! Come back, you hear me? Come back!"

Seeing the shapeshifter disappear off into the shadows of the forest nearby, the candy butler sighed and took out a phone from his coat pocket, sending a warning to the quartet who were currently out looking for the beast's allies.

* * *

[With PB, Marceline, Finn and Jake.]

The sister of the candy dragon Neddy flinched when a shrill sound suddenly rang in her ears. She reached into her bag and grabbed the source of the noise, her phone, and read the messages that Peppermint Butler sent them.

 _"PB, a vamp is runin 2wards u."_

 _"Sorry, my bad."_

 _"_ _¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ "_

The princess blinked at the text before closing her eyes as she quickly typed a reply. She placed the device back into her pack and called out to her friends. "Yo guys, Pepp says that there's a vamp heading straight towards us."

Her friends froze, their heads snapping towards her direction in shock at the new piece of information. "What?!"

Finn turned around to fully face her before speaking. "Which one? Is it The Moon?"

"I doubt it." Marceline interjected, shaking her head negatively. "The Moon is more of a… hide-and-seek type, not one to charge straight into battle."

"So, what's the plan for this guy? Taking in consideration that he probably has the ability to see in the dark… h-he could come from anywhere at all… and could quite easily rip the flesh clean off of our bones." Jake pointed out nervously. The fact that the vampire making its way towards them wasn't the one who Jake thought would be the easiest to defeat didn't help his nerves one bit. The dog unconsciously shrunk himself to be around the same size as a small mushroom before hiding behind Finn's foot in his fear, breathing deeply as an attempt to calm himself.

His human younger brother nodded in agreement. "True. He could ambush us at any moment."

Before Jake could reprimand him about that not helping with his feelings about the situation at hand, he flinched and held on to the blonde's shoe as the boy ran from a bush nearby that suddenly started to shiver. It began to emit animalistic noises, causing PB to ready the gun in her hands while Marceline pulled out two stakes from the leather bands wrapped around her torso. They stared at the shaking pile of leaves, preparing for an assault, when a purple figure emerged from beneath the stack. Lumpy Space Princess yawned as she stretched her arms out, shaking the leaves off of her cloud-like form.

"Ah, I feel refreshed." The princess smacked her lips before reaching a hand inside her mouth and pulled a leaf out, turning to the group. "Y'all huntin' wabbits?"

The four shared a glance and silently asked each other what to do. Marceline perked up and spoke up in a nonchalant tone when an idea formed in her mind. "Well, you could say that… if you count fanged, blood-sucking, creatures of the night as rabbits. Anyway, I have a plan, and we could use your help if you're up for it."

The others stared at her with confused expressions while LSP just arched an eyebrow. "Sure. There isn't really much to do here in the forest anyway."

Marceline grew a smirk. "Alright, we don't know how quickly this vamp is heading towards us, so we'll have to move fast. LSP, can you come over here for a second?"

"…Okay?" The purple princess answered, tentatively floating closer towards the female who was currently smiling at her evilly.

"Let me just test something out…" When Lumpy Space Princess was close enough, the half-demon quickly shoved the blunt ends of the stakes she was holding into the other female's sides, causing the lumpy princess to yelp in surprise. "Aha! I knew that would work! Alright, now do any of you have some rope?"

Instead of replying, the rest just gave her incredulous and slightly wary stares at the fact that she wasn't fazed at all by what she had done. PB forced the disbelief out of her system and chuckled, kneeling down as she placed her backpack on the ground. She reached inside and pulled out a big coil of rope. She looked up and was about to toss the object to her friend when the sight of Marceline placing more stakes into LSP made her pause. She shook her head in amusement at the absurdity of the situation and whistled to get the ex-vampire's attention before throwing the object at her. Seeing the ebony-haired female nab the rope from the air, PB slung her bag back on and crossed her arms over her chest.

"There. Now, mind filling us in on your plan?" She asked, an expectant look on her face.

"Yeah, yeah. Just wait." Marceline said absentmindedly, waving her off. She tied the bindings around Lumpy Space Princess, who seemed to be calm despite having multiple stakes imbedded into her frame as well as having rope currently being wrapped around her. Marceline tied the final knot tightly, nodding and smirking in approval as she admired her finish work. "There. First of all, Jake, come here."

"Y-Yeah?" The magical dog slowly walked towards her, fear still in his veins. Marceline picked the unknotted end of the rope and handed it to Jake, pointing to a tree that reached far above their heads.

"Stretch up and tie the rope to the fifth branch from the forest floor."

Just as he was about to do so, he paused as a thought occurred to him. "Wait. You can fly, can't you? Why don't you do it?"

Marceline gave him a deadpan stare. "Because I have to go and prepare the other half of this plan. Now go on, scaredy-cat. It's just a simple task."

He let out a whimper, his eyes scanning the surroundings for vampires for a few seconds before he finally stretched up, LSP floating after him.

"So, what's the second half of the plan that no one other than you knows about?" PB inquired, her eyebrow raised. Marceline gave her a fanged smile before floating behind her, rummaging through the pink-haired female's backpack. Bonnibel was about to ask her what she was doing when the half-demon let out a triumphant shout as she pulled an object out of the bag. It was another coil of rope.

"Well, the second part is actually Lumpy Space Princess. I'll be up there on the branch that LSP is over, and once that vamp comes here, I'll make her swing over to the guy, stabbing him with all those stakes!" The cackle that echoed from her throat made chills crawl up the others' spines. "The first part is actually getting the vampire to come into this clearing we're in, and to do that, we'll need live bait."

"Alright, sounds good! Now, how are we going to get the bait?" Finn eagerly asked, rolling on the balls of his feet in his excitement to trap a vampire. A few moments of silence passed, the human finally noticing the looks he was receiving from the females. His brain processed the last two words of the sentence again, before thinking back to what he had been told of the creature they were hunting… or more specifically, what species they had loved to drink out of for sustenance. "...No-ho-hooooh."

"Yeaaaaaah-hah-haaah…" She unrolled the thick cable, stretching a part of it out as she aimed a menacing, predatory grin at the now-fearful Finn. "Come here, Mr. Hero!"

"Gaaah!" Finn let out a yelp as he ran in circles, determined to avoid the clutches of the ex-Vampire Queen. Princess Bubblegum sighed at their antics. Her eyes followed Finn's trail and stuck her foot out at the right moment, causing the blonde adventurer to trip. She ignored the yells and merely observed her friend as she tied the rope around one of the human's leg. Marceline dragged the screaming teen using the other end of the tough twine, taking out a stake from her pocket as she did so. She walked over to the small hill and tied the rope to the stake before jamming the wooden object deeply into the ground.

"There! See, now was that so hard?" The half-demon grinned down at the pouting hero.

"I may not be scared of these vampires like Jake, but that doesn't mean that I want to be bait for those guys." Finn huffed, his arms folded in front his chest.

"Hey, stop being such a baby about it. If the stake thing doesn't work, there's still PB and Jake. We got your back!" Marceline then leaned down and patted the male on the head. "Besides, I thought that you'd want to be even more heroic by being a core part of this thing. After all, if you're not here to lure the vamp into our trap, then the whole plan was F.U.B.A.R from the start."

"Humph!" Finn stayed quiet and turned his head away from her childishly.

Marceline rolled her eyes, floating behind the human and placing her hands on his shoulders. "Pluuus~ you get the opportunity to defeat a being from a species known to be one of the most dangerous Ooo has ever seen. A creature that not even _Billy_ has fought or defeated."

Now THAT got Finn's attention. Determination flared in his crystalline orbs and an eager smile spread across his face. "Let's do this thing!"

"Alrighty then. Since that's been settled, Jake!" The canine had just shrunk his stretched legs when he heard the call of his name, causing his head to tilt to the side questioningly. "You magic yourself into some sort of forest-y object so that you can camouflage yourself while PB will hide somewhere with her gun ready. You'll be helping her find the perfect moment to shoot at the guy. Also, be as discrete as possible. You two are the back-up plan in case something goes wrong with this whole thing. I'm going to fly up to LSP now. Finn, make sure you get the blood-sucker's attention, alright? Now, it's time for the waiting game…"

* * *

[Six Minutes Later]

The team didn't have to wait long, as the loud sound of snapping branches and crunching leaves was heard but a few minutes later. Marceline and LSP kept their eyes on the ground, waiting with bated breath as footsteps began to become more audible by the second. They barely suppressed their gasps when an odd feline-like beast walked out, the boots on its two hind legs tipping the half-demon off that it was indeed the vampire they were searching for.

 _'Come on, Hierophant. Move forward…'_ She muttered in her mind, her eyes following the shapeshifter's every move. Her teeth clenched and she stopped a growl from emanating through her throat when she noticed that the transformed being was currently unreachable. _'Ah, dang it!'_

Marceline glanced at Finn, hoping that he would do something to catch his attention. The boy caught her gaze and gave a discrete nod, silently giving the indication that he understood. Finn began to whistle, the noise immediately reaching the creature's ears. It stalked closer to the bush separating the hill and the forest, peering through a small gap in the bundle of leaves in order to watch the bound teen.

"Man, I can't believe they just left me here…" Finn pulled his hat off, moving his head from side to side in order to let his hair to unravel. He grabbed the rope linking his ankle to the stake and tugged it gently. "…All unarmed and tethered like this…"

Hierophant silently slid through the bush, slowly stalking towards the adventurer. He was four meters away. PB readied her blaster and Jake tensed his muscles, ready to mould himself into whatever he would need to change into. LSP's hands turned into fists and Marceline's eyes narrowed.

The cured vampire pulled the princess in her hands towards herself more. _'Yes… that's it. Just a little closer…'_

"Huh, my neck sure is hot. This baby needs to get some air." The predator was less than a meter away now. The long-haired blonde shifted the hair covering his neck to the side. With the strands obscuring his neck gone, Hierophant opened his mouth, his elongated fangs poking out. He leaned closer and was about to pierce the boy's neck.

"You ready?" Marceline whispered lowly to LSP. The purple female nodded.

"Let's do this-" her eyes widened to epic proportions when she was suddenly shoved into the direction of the vampire below before she could even finish her sentence. She flailed her arms and could not help but shout as her form went closer and closer to the terrifying beast behind Finn. "-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Unfortunately, her scream had alerted the vampire of her presence, the male quickly pulled back and twisted his head to where the yell had come from. At first, he was taken aback at the sight of what seemed to be a wriggling purple cloud heading his way, before he shook himself out of his surprise when his eyes caught the stakes imbedded into its form. He hurriedly shrunk into the form of a rat and hissed at the passing lumpy space person. He tried to scamper over to the swinging–and screaming–LSP, but was stopped in his tracks when Finn jumped on top of him, trying to cage him using his body. Hierophant snarled in annoyance and changed back to his normal appearance, shoving the teen hero off of his back.

"Back off!" the man rolled his shoulders and stared silently when his prey ran up to his front and began punching him weakly in the chest.

"What are you going to turn into next? A puppy? Baby goose?!" the coat-wearing transformer grabbed the blonde by his hair and arm, sniffing his neck as he pulled him close. "I'm a- *phhhbt* vampire- *pffft*!"

The fact that Hierophant was about to suck his blood didn't deter Finn however, as he only continued to make fun of the man. The bloodsucker moved his fangs to the human's neck...

 _'I guess the plan will have to be tweaked a bit…'_ Marceline thought, floating up above the hill. "Hierophant!"

The familiar voice made him freeze, his eyes narrowing. His head tilted upwards and he saw the figure he had been looking for all this time. The duo still hidden in the trees saw that he was distracted and chose to make a move.

"Green light." Jake said to PB, who had cocked the shotgun blaster and was aiming at the vampire who had changed into humanoid bat. At hearing Jake's signal, she pulled the trigger, a beam of teal-coloured energy rocketing towards their opponent. However, it appeared that she had shot a second too late as Hierophant had propelled himself up into the air a second before the shot reached his previous location. Princess Bubblegum clicked her tongue when she saw that her attack only managed to take a sizable chunk out of a tree instead of vaporizing the resurrected being. She aimed the gun up at the flying vampire and pulled the trigger multiple times, only to find out that it had run out of power.

"Gaaah!" PB groaned in frustration.

Meanwhile, up in the air, Marceline stayed silent with her arms crossed under her chest as she observed the movements of her enemy. The thousands-of-years-old creature's black whispery wings flapped as he joined the half-demon in the cold night sky.

"Jeez, aren't you cold up here? Do you people even wear coats anymore?" She didn't reply. Hierophant blinked and raised an eyebrow at her lack of response. He shook his head and continued on. "Anyway, I have a proposition for you- OOF!"

His silent adversary socked him in the face mid-sentence, causing anger to course through his veins. He snarled and swiped at Marceline, only for her to dodge and turn invisible.

"Oooh, surprise!" She laughed tauntingly.

"Marceline, wait!" The bat-like man swivelled around, in an attempt to fine the girl whose voice was coming from every direction. "Marceline!"

She giggled at how ridiculous Hierophant looked as he scoured the area for her before turning her gaze downwards. She had to cover her mouth with her hands in order to keep herself from giving away her position, silently guffawing at the sight of Finn, who had put his backpack and hat back on, barely dodging the multiple stakes that LSP threw at him in her attempt to be useful before choosing to run away and accidentally running into Jake. She paused when she spotted a wayward stake cut LSP's binds, with said princess falling on top of the other princess in their crew. Her eyes followed the crudely-repaired garlic bomb and winced when it rolled by Hierophant's feet, the man having flown back down and had morphed back to his original self during the scuffle.

"Well… that was slightly convenient." Marceline murmured. She slowly floated down, landing about three meters away from her fallen friends, her form visible again. Everyone stared at Hierophant as he fiddled with the circular bomb. They held in hopeful breaths when he began to scratch its knob, hoping that he would pull it out and detonate the weapon right in his face.

"What… is… with… All THIS…" His voice slowly became louder and louder as he lifted the sphere up and shook it. "…TACKY, PLASTIC RUBBISH?!"

He threw the bomb far away in his rage, the action making the others flinch. Finn gritted his teeth and grabbed a stake from his pack, pulling it with him as he sprinted towards Hierophant.

"We'll never let you get to her!" He growled, lifting the pointed wood above his head. He jumped up and tried to pounce on the revived male, but was only swatted away effortlessly. The old-fashioned man bared his razor-sharp fangs in annoyance at the two princesses who stood in the middle of him and Marceline.

He raised his hand to the air, his arm beginning to stretch and grow longer. Soon enough, the arm which was now an animal's hoofed leg crashed back down to the earth, landing in the middle of Lumpy Space Princess and Princess Bubblegum. The old vampire's bones produced cracking sounds as they disjointed and forged a different, monstrously-sized form. The gang gasped when they saw that Hierophant was now some sort of hybrid created using parts of his other transformations. His head was the same, but his neck was longer and was covered in dark-brown hair. His body was circular and was dotted with demonic cat eyes. Attached to his body were five different limbs that acted as his legs. Two seemed to be thin ape-like arms, one was the same hoof that had separated PB and LSP earlier, and another took the appearance of a tail while the final attachment was one of his bat form's wings. What made his new appearance even odder was that he had a scorpion tail, another bat wing, a sludgy tentacle and what seemed to be a short, pudgy arm protruding from his back.

"You dunderheads! I can't even deal with all this modern… NONSENSE!" He spat, hatred eminent in his voice. "Why can't the rest of you just… BEAT IT!"

Jake stood stock-still, paralyzed with fear. He could do nothing but watch as his allies ran in the direction of the gigantic beast before them. Slowly, he began to shrink and run backwards into the thick forest. Once he was no taller than the shortest blade of grass, he span on his feet and sprinted into a group of mushrooms, crawling into PB's hidden backpack. "My blood man… I love my blood!"

He sat on a purse, his knees bent to his chest and his hands covering his ears, trying to block out the sounds of battle. As he sat, he was surprised when the current ex-ruler of the Candy Kingdom's phone lit up, shining a message from Peppermint Butler through the darkness of the bag. Jake slid off of the wallet's red material and walked up to the phone, reading the glowing words.

 _"PS vamp plays by old timey rulez,  
_ _cant_ _enter house_ _etc. HTH"_

"Old timey rules, huh…" He pondered aloud, a hand to his chin. A loud swooshing noise caught his attention, and he peeked out of the bag's flap worriedly. He saw Hierophant swiping at Marceline using the tentacle with the vampire hunter swiftly dodging his strikes. She noticed that LSP was hanging on to his furry tail and kicked the waving appendage, making the purple cloud fly off. The eyes on Hierophant's spider-like body narrowed and the scorpion tail sneaked up behind Marceline before nicking her in the arm.

"Ah!" She grabbed the wound on her arm, hissing at the retreating tail. She felt her arm sting and removed her hand, a concerned frown on her face when she saw the cut sizzle and emanate green smoke. After seeing his friend being injured, Jake narrowed his eyes determination and jumped out off the bag, stretching into a fleshy house.

"Guys, get in me!" He yelled, opening the "door" located underneath his face. Finn quickly poked the monster in his eyes before hopping off of Hierophant's face and dragging LSP over to the inside of the "house". Bonnibel followed closely behind with Marceline hastily floating backwards to Jake, keeping her eyes on Hierophant while a hand was on her cut once again. Hierophant was about to shove his head through the doorway when he paused.

"May I come in?" He asked icily. Jake rose an eyebrow before promptly slamming the door in his face.

"Nope!" He replied bluntly, the answer making Hierophant's rage burn even more.

He transformed into a quadrupedal, wolf-like creature and growled at Jake. "Grrr!"

"Grr?" The dog responded, fearful of the vampire's next move and unsure of what to do.

"Let me in!" Hierophant slowly stalked forwards towards Jake's moulded body.

"Not gonna happen, man!"

The shapeshifter snapped at the magical canine's body, only for him to pull his flesh back, making Hierophant bite the air.

His earlier rage gone, curiosity was now in its place. "What sort of creature are you?"

"Uh… I-I'm a magic dog with magic blood-"

"Magic dog, you say?" the wolf interrupted.

"…Y-Yeah?" The bloodsucker's new interest in him made Jake uneasy. The wolf took a few steps back and sat on his haunches.

"Any sort of connection to a… magical, bright-yellow fox?" The question made Marceline and Princess Bubblegum flinch from their seats inside Jake.

"N-… No?"

"Hmm… well that's too bad. Anyway, we digress." Hierophant stood on all fours again before padding over to the house's door. "Marceline, listen to me. You will not be able to defeat the Vampire King. Not only can you not defeat me in your current state, but it also seems that you are missing a certain gold… partner, of yours. Though, I sure do hope that this dog and the other human are not the replacements of that blonde idiot… even _he_ was smarter than them."

Silence filled the clearing before Marceline slowly opened the door, floating over to the door way and sat down. "…What do you want?"

"All I wanted was to ask you if we could team up. You are not the only one who bares hatred for that deluded fool. But before I could even ask my request, you and your troublesome crew began tempting me with boy blood and hurling spiky, purple… gobs at me." As if on cue, LSP flew up behind Marceline, attempting to strike what was supposed to be a flirtatious pose at Hierophant. He looked at her weirdly before continuing on. "Here's the dope. You need me. I don't know how it finally happened, but he must've LET you win, am I right?"

Marceline didn't say a word and merely pushed LSP back into the house, flashes of the night she became a vampire appearing in her mind. She sighed at his know-it-all expression and stood up from her cross-legged position.

"Ugh. Alright, say if we do work together. You need to give up drinking blood." She hovered out of the safety of the house and circled around Hierophant, the man tense and ready to attack if needed.

"But I'm a vampire! Drinking blood is kind of the main thing-"

"And you can drink red, just as easily." She interjected, causing him to huff. Hierophant's ears twitched as he followed her trail using the sound of her voice.

* * *

[In The Bushes]

[With King of Ooo and Crunchy]

The duo hid behind a bush, staring at the scene with rapt attention.

"Uh, don't you think we should go back now?"

"So that vile, transforming beast wants to be friends with the Vampire Queen, huh…" King of Ooo muttered, ignoring the nervous Crunchy beside him. Crunchy fiddled with his fingers and shuffled his feet, wanting to be as far away from the vampire as possible.

"C-Can we just go?"

"SHUSH, Crunchy!" The "princess" replied nonchalantly, waving off his subject's worries. The cookie silently took multiple steps back, his eyes flashing from corner to corner as he expected something to jump out and attack them. He didn't look where he was going and tripped up on a root, his head hitting against a tree's trunk as his hand accidentally pushed a mushroom down. The duo flinched when their visions became black and all that they could see was faint scarlet glowing coming from behind them. They slowly turned around and saw that it was a menacing, canine skull design imbedded into the tree creating the light. Its empty eye sockets flashed white before it began to cackle, symbols beginning to snake around the whole tree. "…Hi?"

Circles appeared underneath their feet and green light seemed to scan them for something. After a few seconds, the green turned to bright red before completely disappearing. The black background then changed to a deep maroon, the ground became cracked, crimson rock and a ring of fire surrounded them. Panic filled their beings as they turned to the skull indentation for answers, only for them to finally notice that its colour had changed from rose to coal and its eyes were glowing an ominous yellow.

 _ **" TRESSPASSERS!**_ _ **"**_

* * *

[Meanwhile, With The Others]

"Well, then I suppose I have no choice…" He closed his eyes and relaxed his posture, giving Marceline a fake sense of security. Just as he heard her fly to his side, his hand shot up and wrapped itself firmly around her neck. "…I'm just going to waste YOU, and eat that KID, because that's what an old-school vampire does-"

"GAAAAAAAH!" Hierophant's head snapped towards the bushes behind him when he heard the fearful shout. Crunchy, who was running away from the odd tree with his eyes closed, did not see the vampire and crashed against his boots. The resurrected vampire did not expect someone to have collide against him. He was caught off-guard and lost balance, he fell forward and his grip on Marceline was gone. The force of the clash was strong enough to push him into Jake's open door and he fell inside the makeshift-house, his eyes widening in realization.

"Wait- No! I wasn't invited! Noooo-" He dispersed into a cloud of soul dust, the half-demon he had been restraining flew up to the clouds and sucked in his soul. Finn blinked at the sight of the souls being sucked before turning his gaze towards what remained of Hierophant.

"Jeez…" He muttered, staring at the bones. "What happened?"

"Dude was too old-fashioned for his own good. He just couldn't get with the times-"

"A-ah, great! My plan worked!" An unpleasantly familiar voice exclaimed as he walked out of the woods. Everyone, other than Crunchy, looked curiously at the shirtless "princess" as sweat was dripping down his temples and terror was eminent in his eyes. The man caught the hate-filled glare PB was sending his way and internally winced. As this was going on, Marceline began to feel woozy, her eyesight going blurry.

"Urgh… I don't feel so good." She grunted and clutched her stomach as she unwillingly morphed into many of her other forms before finally turned back to normal, laying weakly on the ground.

"Uh… Buh-bye!" King of Ooo called out as he grabbed Crunchy and hightailed it out of there. His antics were ignored with everyone running over to their ill friend. PB knelt down and laid Marceline's head on her lap.

"Marceline…" She spotted the green cut on her arm and gasped. "Oh no."

"Uh, guys." The three other conscious people looked at him. "I'm not feeling so great either… Bluuuurgh!"

The others winced when they saw him vomit out the skeletal remains of Hierophant. Jake panted before smacking his lips, the taste of the ribs, spine and skull was alright in his opinion. He was a dog, and bones were bones after all.

* * *

[Within Marceline's Mind]

She was confused. Her head hurt and she couldn't see anything. She could feel pressure around her eyes, but she couldn't think of a reason why. What happened? Where was she?

"…cy." A faint, familiar voice whispered.

 _'Who was that?'_ She thought perplexedly.

"…arcy."

Her head began to throb. "Huh?"

"Marcy, open your eyes!"

The loud yell made her flinch and made her headache worse. She was about to complain when she processed the last three words that were said. Her eyes were closed? Well, that would explain things… she opened her eyes, blinking as she tried to get her eyes adjusted to the bright light. "W-What?"

"Hahah, there ya go! Jeez, you aren't dozing off, are you? We're at Simon and Betty's place already." Her pointed ears twitched and she turned to who had spoken. Standing to her right was a blonde, spiky-haired man. His cerulean eyes shone with mirth and a cheeky grin was plastered on his face while three whisker-like lines were on his cheeks. He wore a black suit with a white long-sleeved shirt underneath and a rust-orange tie dangling from his neck. A gold-buckled belt was tied around his formal pants and his dress shoes were shining under the sunset's light. Seeing her puzzled expression, he gave her a worried frown. "Hey, you alright?"

"Y-Yeah. W-Where…?" Where was she? Who was this man? Why was he so… familiar to her? As her mind became bombarded with question after question, one in particular caught her attention. "Hey, what happened to the vampires? And why aren't you in your fox form?"

"Fox form?" He looked confused. "And… vampires? What vampires?"

"You know, the ones I was hunting with PB, Finn and Jake?"

"Who?" She blinked in slight disbelief. To be honest, she could understand his confusion about his "fox form". Even she didn't know what she was talking about. But he didn't recognize his friends? He didn't know who they were? Okay, maybe he wouldn't have recognized Bubblegum from her nickname, but Finn and Jake? They were renowned heroes in Ooo! "…arcy! OI, MARCY!"

"H-Huh? What is it?"

The male clicked his tongue, looking at her anxiously. "Are you sure you're okay? That's the second time now…"

"Y-Yeah. Yeah! I'm fine. Just… thinking, I guess."

"Heheh, alright weirdo." A small smile stretched in the place of his frown. Although he was acting nonchalant, she could still see the traces of concern in his eyes. "Now come on, those two lovebirds are probably waiting for us already."

"Right…" She clenched her hand and was surprised when she felt something move. She looked down and saw that she was holding a bouquet of flowers. She stared at the flowers before glancing at the blonde when he knocked loudly on the door. She walked up to his side and heard shuffling from the other side of the door. A lock clicked as it unlocked and it opened, revealing two bespectacled humans.

"Ah, Marceline. Naruto." The man, who she assumed was Simon, said kindly.

"Hey, guys. Thanks for inviting us over!" The blonde smiled.

"Come in, come in. It must've been a bit of a trek to get here." Betty ushered him in. Once the odd male was inside, she turned to her fellow female. "Marceline, come on."

The black-and-white-haired woman didn't move, it was as if she was paralyzed.

 _'Na… ru… to?'_ She slowly muttered in her mind, unable to think of why that name was so familiar, why it made her heart ache. Her eyes slid to the blonde who was laughing inside the house with Simon. _Who is he?_

* * *

[Outside The Mind]

"Guys, stop burping! I told you, it's not working. There aren't any cure-alls."

Finn and Jake stopped half-burp and sheepishly scratched their heads.

"Heheh, sorry PB. We just wanted to double-check." Finn chuckled out nervously.

"Yeah, we're so- *BURP*"

"Whoo, Jake!" PB winced, waving the air in front of her nose with a hand. "What the heck did you eat?"

"Hey, I'll have you know that I pride myself in having nice-smelling burps! Heh, not really." Jake stuck his tongue out childishly before muttering one last sentence silently. "Though, it might've been that other vamp's bones…"

Princess Bubblegum sighed and went back to gazing at Marceline's pained expression. "…Do you guys know what a hubris is?"

Finn tilted his head bewilderedly. "Ain't that some sort of old-timey deity guy who weighs your deeds on a scale?"

Bonnibel chuckled slightly. "Heheh, no, no… It means excessive pride or self-confidence."

Lumpy Space Princess smirked and raised an eyebrow. "So that's basically what you've got, right PB?"

The human gave her a sharp look. "Dude!"

PB stared at the ground sadly. "No… She's right. I was so arrogant that I was blinded to the other possible consequences-"

"Then don't believe in yourself so much then, dumdum." LSP rolled her eyes and interrupted her.

"-and now my best friend is dying of poison… it's all my fault."

Finn crossed his arms and clicked his tongue. "Hey now, you know that ain't true."

Jake nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Marcy took a risk, and you helped her because she's your friend. Real friends stick with each other, even when against the face of death… 'cause death is life! Right Finn?"

"Shoot yeah!" The blonde then gave her an embarrassed smile. "Besides, I get poisoned all the time just by doing the dishes."

"I get poisoned on purpose!" Everyone perked up turned to where the voice came from and saw that it was Peppermint Butler who spoke. The butler gave them a deadpan stare when he saw the odd expressions on their faces. "Hey now, don't look at me like that! I do it for research. It's for my poison lab back in the castle."

PB's eyes widened at the new piece of information.

"Why didn't you say something about it earlier?! Let's get our butts over there, then!" The pink-haired female turned to her two knights. "Finn, Jake. You two go find The Moon. If we can't get the poison out of Marceline's system, then we'll just wake her up and have her suck up the vamp's powers. If Marcy doesn't wake up, then maybe we can find a way to extract her healing ability and transfer it manually."

Finn grabbed his stake sword from his back and nodded. "Got it!"

As the two heroes ran off into the woods to follow the trail of moon pearls they had found earlier, Bonnibel carried Marceline on her back as she and Peppermint Butler ran off towards the Candy Kingdom, all not hearing LSP's yells. Lumpy Space Princess sighed and began to float back towards her camp when the ground shook. She paused in her tracks in confusion, looking around as the trees shook violently for a few moments before stopping.

"What was that?"

* * *

[With Finn and Jake]

"…the trail was around here somewhere. Aha!" Finn bent down and picked up a fragile, teal-coloured pearl from the forest floor, turning it around is he examined it.

"Ugh, dude, they're gross!"

"Meh. I think they're pretty cool."

"But what if- what if they're her BOOGERS… or worse?!"

Finn promptly dropped the orb in his hand and went back to following the track. "Come on, Jake."

"Ew… ew… EW!" Jake stretched his legs and shrunk his feet, determined to not touch a single one of the orbs the vampire had dropped. "You know, sometimes I feel like vampires were created just to torment me."

Finn blinked and glanced back at his brother. "Dude, I think you've got a hubris."

"Hey, I'm just saying… it could be a possibility, ya know?" The dog shrugged.

The human turned back to the orbs on the ground. As they climbed up a hill, they saw that the trail ended at a floating pontoon. "Oh, look! I think The Moon is in there."

The magical canine watched as his younger sibling hopped up onto the wooden boat and called out to him. "Hey, don't just go on and hop onto weird forms of transportation! What if The Moon plopped this thing right out of her bod?!"

"Nope. Pretty sure this mummy job came out of _this_ mummy job." The teen replied, pointing to something inside the hut on the boat. Jake cautiously stepped onto the pontoon and peered inside the bud-shaped shelter's hole.

He winced at the sight of the mummified corpse. "I still hate it."

Finn rolled his eyes and stepped inside and walked over to the vase beside the mummy. He pulled off its lid and stared at the sleeping figure within. "Oh."

"What? What's inside? Is it pickles?" Jake rose an eyebrow at the lack of response before stretching over to his brother's side. "Oh, yeah… that's her."

The blonde hero passed him the stake sword and he shoved it straight through her heart. They gawked at the sight of the stake being pushed out of the vampire's body.

"D-Did she just…?" The teen stuttered.

"She just healed that sword right out of her bod!" The quadruped grabbed his head in panic.

They stood there, gaping in awe for a few moments. Minutes later, Finn shook his head and spoke. "How about we try to fry her up in the sun?"

The bulldog nodded and pulled The Moon out of the vase and out of the shadowed, makeshift hut. The watched as her skin began to bubble, only for it to return back to normal.

"You've gotta be kidding me! How are we supposed to kill this creep?!" Jake yelled in anger and confusion.

"Hey, calm down dude. Let's just stick with PB's plan and try to stake her a bunch of different ways." The backpack-wearing male went back into the hut and grabbed his forgotten sword before beginning to repeatedly stab the sleeping vampire.

* * *

[A Few Hours Later]

Jake's eyes followed Finn's hand as it kept lowering in an attempt to stake the vampire correctly, just as they had been for the past couple of hours. "Gah, dude. This ain't working!"

"Yeah, I know… my wrist hurts, I've been stabbin' her for hours!" Finn sighed. "You know, I'm surprised PB asked us to stake her back, instead of taking her back."

"…"

"…"

"WAIT!" Jake yelled in realization. "Taking or staking?"

"Huh?"

"She said "You guys… stake her back"? Right?" He asked confusedly, rolling out the S in "guys" and "stake".

"Oh yeah, she said "You guys, take her back."! I think…"

The dog scratched his head. "So, uh… which one should we do?"

"Both, I guess." Finn rubbed his chin in thought. "Though we better hurry before she wakes up at sundown."

They turned to check the Sun's position, only to gulp when they saw it disappear completely into the horizon. A shuffling noise was heard, and they were shocked to see that The Moon's trowel-like ear located on her forehead was twitching. Jake hopped on his feet.

"Aaah! G-Get her back in the vase!" He stammered, hurried stretching his arms to place her into the large piece of furniture before re-placing its lid. The act was futile, however, as The Moon poked her head out of the vase a few seconds later, hissing at the two. For a few moments, the three partook in a staring contest before Finn decided to break the silence.

"COME GET US, BLOOD BUCKET!" He shouted, gesturing to the awake undead creature.

"WHAT?!" Jake cried out incredulously. Finn just twisted him around so that he was facing the direction of the Candy Kingdom.

"RUN!" With that order, the canine stretched into a larger version of himself and placed his brother on his back, sprinting towards where their sick friend would be at. As the dog hybrid ran, he curved his head around and asked his companion a panicked question.

"Dude, why the heck did you make her chase us?!"

Finn kept his eye on the running vampire, replying loudly through the wind. "Don't you remember? PB said that Marcy will need her healing powers. We'll just stake her back at the castle, bro!"

Jake sighed. "Fine, just don't let her near my deli tray!"

"If you don't want her to get any closer, then run faster!" He exclaimed, slapping the dog.

"Alright! Whooooo!" He let out a war cry and sped his pace up even faster.

Finn kept staring at the creepy figure following them. "Man… she's really booking it hard. You see that, Jake?"

"No, bro. Just let me run."

"Holy stink! She's smilin' right at me!"

"I don't need a play-by-play, man."

"She's messing with us…"

"What do you mean?!"

"I mean that she's not catching up to us on purpose!"

"Why do you think that?"

"She's just giving me this look." Finn glared at her as cogs spun in his mind. "…Slow down so that I can talk to her."

"No boy, you CRAZY!" His brother bellowed in response.

"Just do it! I won't let her bite you!" The adventurer roared, smacking his sibling again.

"Okay, okay. My life is in your hands man." Jake's footsteps became more sluggish and they lost speed quickly. Finn narrowed his eyes when he was face-to-face with The Moon.

"Hey. We're leading you into a trap." He said bluntly, his expression showing seriousness. "We're going to suck out your healing power and dust you."

A low growl reverberated in his throat when she didn't reply.

"Then, I'm gonna put your dust in a litter box, and get a tiger to drop a huge, smelly tiger bomb on your sorry dust clumps!" He howled, hitting Jake again.

"DUDE, stop slapping my butt!" Jake complained, twisting his head back to look at the two behind him. He and Finn tensed when they heard The Moon start to chuckle demonically.

 **"You run in the path of my light."**

Jake flinched at the sound of the deep, gravelly voice. "THAT'S HER VOICE?!"

 **"How can you lead me, when _I_ am your guide?"**

Finn blinked and turned to the glowing orb in the sky before switching his gaze to The Moon. "Are you being literal or allegorical?"

She didn't answer and just smiled widely, the sight of her fangs giving Finn ominous chills as she laughed at him evilly. **"HAHAHAHAH!"**

"ME NO LIKE!" His eyes widened in surprise and quickly looked at his brother. "Run Jake, RUN!"

* * *

[With Princess Bubblegum and Peppermint Butler]

Princess Bubblegum was silent, staring at Peppermint Butler as he waved his hands over the gems placed on Marceline's body.

"Sh- Sh- Sh- Sh- Shuuh. Sh- Sh- Sh- Sh- Shuuuh." Once he was finished he stepped back and tilted his head up to face PB. "It's done."

She gave him a deadpanned look. "That's it? You just go "Shu Shu Shu" with your hands?"

The butler pointed at her, annoyed. "Hey, don't question my methods! This is _my_ way."

PB sighed. "Okay, what now then?"

"We just wait for around about… two hours."

"Oh…" She stared at the grassy floor.

"How about we do something else?" The peppermint man suggested.

"Hm… video games?"

"I don't really like video games…"

"Me neither."

The gum-haired princess stared through the window in thought. "How about we talk?"

Her butler raised an eyebrow. "About what?"

"Maybe as to why you have a poison lab that I didn't know about located in the castle?"

"Oh…" He rubbed the back of his head with a hand. "Well, it was actually a just-in-case plan that me and… another guy thought up of. We created this place just for research and for creating antidotes. You know, in case something like our current situation happened?"

PB gave him a suspicious look. "Who was this other person?"

He flinched and glanced at the two objects that were currently being obstructed by the two banana guards that were situated by the door. "Well…"

She followed his gaze and saw the edges of the stone structures the guards were standing in front of. She clicked her tongue when she couldn't get a clear view and called out to her two subjects. "Uh, guys, we'll be fine. Do you think you can just stay outside the door for a bit?"

The bananas shared glances before turning back to their ruler. "Okay princess."

She gave them a thankful smile. PB turned back to the statues and was shocked when she saw two depictions of a certain multi-tailed fox sitting on his haunches. "So it was him…"

"Yeah…"

Bonnibel chuckled mirthlessly. "He always was over-protective of those close to him…"

"Yep. He helped me build this room and got all the tools and items I needed for me." He sighed melancholically at the sight of the foxes. "I was walking in one day and was surprised to see him placing these two here at the sides of the door. I asked him about them, but he just winked at me and said "trade secret" before running off."

"Really? I wonder-"

*CRASH*

She was cut off when Finn and Jake crashed through the room's lone window and broke off most of the wall. "WE BROUGHT THE MOON! What do we do now?!"

 **"Die like pigs."**

They ran over to the princess's side and flinched when they saw The Moon climb into the room through the giant hole they made in the wall. PB hurriedly looked around for a hiding spot and saw an open metal container.

 _'Jackpot!'_ She picked up Marceline from the table and ran over to the safe. She turned to Finn and Jake, giving them one more order before locking the metal door. "You guys, you'll have to slow her down until Marcy wakes up. We don't know how to collect her dust, and Marcy needs her powers. Just distract her!"

The brothers took fighting stances and waited for The Moon to strike, only to become confused when she didn't move an inch. "Uh… she's not doing anything."

Jake glanced at him from the corner of his eye. "So, you gonna try something?"

"Hm. Okay I guess." He tightened his grip on his sword and was about to run her through, when his body felt weak and he fell to the ground. "Whoops!"

Jake stared at him in disbelief. "What was that?!"

"I think I just… tapped out?"

"Tap out? When do you _ever_ tap out?!" The dog shivered when he caught her intimidating smile. She chuckled lowly and spoke again.

 **"Pigs!"**

Jake clutched his heart and fell to the ground, his body also feeling sluggish and heavy.

"Dude, she's doing something weird to us!" Finn grabbed on to her leg as she walked away. "Jake, help!"

"I can't! I feel like I'm in a slow-motion terror dream!"

The human looked around for anything that could help and spotted a foot poking into view from the doorway. His eyes widened in realization.

"Banana guards, help!" The dozing guards outside woke up with a jolt from the command before grabbing their spears and rushing inside the room. But once they saw The Moon, the stopped and cowered in fear. She hissed at them, causing their chocolate on their heads to melt. "Princess, I can't stop her!"

"You kinda have to, Finn!"

He let go of the vampire's leg and grunted as his upper half collided with the ground. He pulled himself around and started to make his way to his over-sized stake. "I gotta get my sword…"

The Moon had reached the locked container and tried to pry it open by twisting its handle. The sound of the locked handle clicking reached PB's ears and she yelled out hatefully to the being outside. "It's locked, dipstick!"

The Moon didn't seem fazed. She merely stared at the combination knob and began to shout. **"Open, pig! Open, pig! Pigs! PIGS! PIGS!"**

PB flinched and looked at Marceline's face, slapping her gently on the cheek. "C'mon Marcy, wake up. Wake up!"

She closed her eyes when Marceline didn't even twitch, tears escaping her eyes. But then, something unusual happened. Light began to shine in the safe's darkness. Her eyes snapped open and she was surprised to see that a green light was emanating from something in Marceline's shirt. She tugged the cord around her friend's neck and pulled the object out. It was Naruto's old necklace.

"W-What?"

As the outside world was obscured to her by the metal walls of the container, unbeknownst to her, something odd was happening outside as well. Peppermint Butler stared in wonder when one of the fox statues' eyes glowed green. Four beams of light shot out of its chest, two knocking out the oblivious Finn and Jake, while the other two healed the heads of the unconscious guards. A red burst of energy then shot from its now-open maw, the crimson aura encasing the vampire in chains. He then watched in wonder as its skin slowly began to change from stone to… fur? He flinched when he saw a foot twitch, the statue was losing more of its grey appearance as the fox finished materializing. The quadruped shook himself, his fur gracefully arching as he did so. He opened and closed his jaw, wincing when he took a breath.

"Oh jeez... my mouth tastes like death."

Peppermint Butler could not believe his eyes. There before him, many years after his mysterious disappearance, was none other than…

"Naruto?"


	4. Chapter 4

**HEY GUYS! Yeah, I know right?! I'm actually here and not dead! YAY! Or, is it, "Awww"? Well anyway, let's move right on, shall we? One whole freakin' year is enough of a wait. So, first off, I did a bit of editing on the past three chapters during the end of July. For those who have just found this fic during August 2017 onwards, you don't need to worry about it. But for the rest of you, here's what I edited if you're curious:**

 **[31/07/17] & [13/08/17] Edits:**

 **Chapter 1 – A few spelling and grammatical errors.**

 **Chapter 2 – "As she walked back into the cabin, however, a small tremor rocked the entirety of Ooo for a moment, leaving certain residents of the kingdoms confused and fearful."**

 **Chapter 3 – " ¯\\_(** **ツ** **)_/¯ "**

 **Lumpy Space Princess sighed and began to float back towards her camp when the ground shook. She paused in her tracks in confusion, looking around as the trees shook violently for a few moments before stopping.**

 **"What was that?"**

 **"Y-Yeah. W-Where…?" Where was she? Who was this man? Why did he seem so… familiar, to her? As her mind became bombarded with question after question, one in particular caught her attention. "Hey, what happened to the vampires? And why aren't you in your fox form?"**

" **Fox form?" He looked confused. "And… vampires? What vampires?"**

 **"You know, the ones I was hunting with PB, Finn and Jake?"**

 **"Who?" She blinked in slight disbelief. To be honest, she could understand his confusion about his "fox form". Even she didn't know what she was talking about. But he didn't recognize her friends? He didn't know who they were? Okay, maybe he wouldn't have recognized Bubblegum from her nickname, but Finn and Jake? They were renowned heroes in Ooo! "H-Huh? What is it?"**

 **The male clicked his tongue, looking at her anxiously. "Are you sure you're okay? That's the second time now…"**

 **"Y-Yeah. Yeah! I'm fine. Just… thinking, I guess."**

 **[Edits List End]**

 **THERE.**

 **That should be all of the edits I've done in the previous chapters.**

 **Before anyone asks, yes. I** _ **did**_ **deliberately place the shrugging dude into Chapter 3 of my own free will. Peppermint Butler sent it as part of his text it the episode, so I put it in for shits and giggles. For those who STILL ask for a good reason as to why I did so, please use the list to look at the first edit I made to Chapter 3 once more. Now, with that done and dusted, I need to tell y'all something important about this fic, which is why I will put an "important" stamp before the notice (though there will still, no doubt, be readers who'll skip it anyway).**

 **[IMPORTANT NOTICE]**

 **Classy. Anyway, I digress (again). So, with school being an annoying pain in the ass, I haven't exactly been able to watch many cartoons lately. Everything's been going by so fast with important assignments being given literally STRAIGHT AFTER one is finished, I myself am actually surprised that it's been MONTHS since I last watched Adventure Time, even more so when I realized that Adventure Time now has NINE SEASONS. So, yeah. I'm waaay behind the times and I dunno if I'll be able to watch the episodes after the "Stakes" mini-series. So, just in case any massive information bombs had been dropped in those episodes that would place plot holes and stuff in "The Tenth Guardian", I'm making it so that only the episode "Stakes: The Dark Cloud" and those created before it will be the only episodes to have "existed" in the "The Tenth Guardian" universe. If I get time, which is unlikely due to exams and test after test, I'll watch the episodes I haven't seen and may change my mind on this "rule" depending on what gets revealed in those episodes.**

 **(SUMMARY: Basically, if you're too lazy to read the paragraph, any Adventure Time episodes created after the "Stakes" mini-series and any information revealed within them will have no place in the "The Tenth Guardian" universe. They essentially don't exist. If you wanna know why, then read the damn notice instead of this summary!)**

 **Now, without further ado, I give to you the fourth chapter of… The Tenth Guardian.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything, especially Naruto and Adventure Time.**

* * *

Chapter 4 – My Demons

Peppermint Butler couldn't believe it. Who could blame him for his disbelief? He may have been an odd butler who knew demonic arts and was friends with the Lord of the Underworld, but still! One of the statues just came to life before him! As mundane as that sounds, it was a complete surprise to him. He'd done tests on them many times before, and no matter how many times he repeated them, he'd find himself face-to-face with the same results.

No heartbeats.

No sign of organic life trapped within.

No demonic magic keeping them together.

It just couldn't be!

.

.

.

…Could it?

Despite the raspy voice… those nine tails, the golden fur and crystalline eyes… he had all the features.

Was it really…

"…Naruto?"

The fox, who had been opening and closing his maw with a disgusted look on his face at his "breath of death", paused at the sound of Peppermint Butler's voice. He looked around for the source, a grin immediately on his face the moment he spotted the shocked butler.

"Well, well, if it ain't Candyman! Say, you don't happen to have a toothbrush or something right now, would you- Wait, hang on!" The blonde quadruped coughed into a fisted paw, a wince again on his face at his horrible breath. **"…Am I back to normal now? Yep! Okay, back to what I was saying... How ya doing ya evil excuse for a mint? You still hanging out with Death?"**

It was.

No matter how long ago it had been since he last heard it, he could recognize that voice from anywhere. It really was Naruto. Peppermint Butler held his hands to the sides of his head, eyes widening even more than they already were in his incredulity. "I-I can't believe it…"

Noticing his disbelief and lack of proper response, Naruto tilted his head to the side worriedly as he stared at the shell-shocked butler. **"Pepps? You… Are you alright?"**

The living peppermint only turned his gaze to the ground, coal irises and smile becoming slightly insane in his repudiation. "Heheheh… I should be asking _you_ that!"

The multi-tailed canine looked at him as if he had grown another limb right before his eyes, confused and skeptical. He then shook his head and gave a hollow laugh as he continued to stare in concern, an unsure smile on his muzzle. **"H-Hahah, what? What are you talking about, Pepper-Butt? You're not making any sense!"**

"After all this time… after all those centuries _searching_ … you were HERE?!"

 **"Wait. Searching? CENTURIES?** _ **TIME**_ **?!"** The vulpine rocketed forward to stand right in front of Peppermint Butler, staring the candy citizen in the eye, wide cerulean orbs frantic and perturbed as they demanded answers. **"How long has boss kept me sealed?!"**

His words made the butler stop in his descent into a lower level of madness, the small, tuxedo-clad candy citizen now staring up at the large fox curiously. "What do you mean "boss"? _YOU_ have a BOSS?! What have you been doing since you went missing, you insufferable mutt?!"

It was now Naruto's turn to freeze, also taken aback by Peppermint Butler's words. **"Pepps… I went missing?"**

The living peppermint, not noticing his reaction, closed his eyes with a shake of his head and let out another quip. "What sort of idiot doesn't realize that he's suddenly disappeared off of the face of Ooo for years?!"

Hearing no response or reaction, the butler looked back at Naruto once more, and saw that his face was drained completely of any mirth. Peppermint Butler was now confused, and was even more so when the canine leaned away and sat on his haunches, his eyes now a slitted crimson as he glared at the ground with a frown. When the fox lifted his gaze, his blood-red orbs bore into Peppermint Butler's coal irises, causing the suited male to flinch.

 **"…I went** _ **missing**_ **?"**

Despite being startled by the fox's sudden seriousness concerning that piece of information, he immediately understood that it was no longer the time to be joking. Though silence reigned only for a mere second, to him, it felt as if a millennium had passed. Gravity weighed him down to his spot and the air became chillier, a feeling of looming demise enveloping him and everyone else in the room. Tearing his mind out of a vision of an enormous beast furiously creating a bloodbath, Peppermint Butler then gulped before forcing words to pass through his throat, silently thankful that his voice didn't falter as he spoke.

"Yes, you did. For quite some time, too."

Peppermint Butler flinched again, alarmed by the sudden, vicious snarl that escaped Naruto's control. The bright-coloured canine was annoyed, to say the least; _that w_ as for sure. The vulpine's chest rumbled as he emanated a constant, guttural growl, claws clicking against the rubble spread around the poison lab's grassy floor as he angrily paced back and forth in front of Peppermint Butler.

What was going on?

What has gotten him so tense?

How is it that he came from a statue that _he_ placed in the room himself?!

So many questions span in Peppermint Butler's mind, all unable to dodge the web of confusion that was currently hindering any progress made towards calming his thoughts and processing newfound information. Speaking of information…

 **"…I been gone?"**

Peppermint Butler cursed. He hadn't noticed the fox stop moving, nor had he heard the question. Hesitantly, he asked, "E-Excuse me? I didn't quite catch that."

He grimaced as he received a miffed sigh at his request, but the furred quadruped repeated his question nonetheless. **"How. Long. Have. I. Been.** _ **GONE**_ **?"**

…Though, he could've gone without the specific, mocking use of multiple pauses.

"It's been about seven hundred years now," He said, wincing at Naruto's roar of fury. He watched as the other male continued his pacing, but this time, his movements were much faster and his tenser posture screamed his agitation. Hearing groans of effort, Peppermint Butler looked past the grumbling tod, gasping when he saw Finn struggling to stand whilst Jake was groggily attempting to shake the banana guards out of unconsciousness. Noticing more movement, he glanced to the right of the group on the floor, flinching at the sight of the vampire encased in ethereal chains; his worry growing even more as his eyes trailed the scarlet energy that began to climb up the azure chains, red slowly superseding blue. He quickly cleared his throat, the action successfully gaining the kitsune's attention, if a rabbit-like ear twitching to his direction was any indication. "I know you're frustrated and perturbed right now Naruto—as am I—but as much as I would like to ask you about why you don't seem to be aware of your own disappearance, I'm afraid we have more pressing matters to attend to."

Naruto's strides paused, as did his low growl. He tilted his head slightly to the side, a curious look now on his face as he regarded Peppermint Butler's profile, the short candy citizen now having a relieved look as Naruto's slitted pupils dilated; cerulean bled into vermillion, creating a shining amethyst.

 **"What exactly are these… pressing, matters?"**

The Peppermint Butler pointed over one of his furred, amber shoulders and at the scene behind him. Following his friend's finger, he turned around and was surprised to see the banana guards as well as a human and a dog lying on the floor, unable to stand. He immediately bounded towards them, ignoring the human and dog's shocked yelps. Sniffing the fruit sentries, he grimaced at the scent of the strong magic that had petrified them into unconsciousness. Turning to the other duo on the floor, he sniffed them too, once again ignoring their indignant comments.

 _ **' _T_ his magic… it's strong, that's for sure. It would take great willpower to only be immobilized like these two; willpower the banana guards, unfortunately, lack. But this magic… I've scented this before, but from where? I just can't remem-!' **_

Realization struck him like an arrow to the knee, his revelation in sync with the rattling of the chains behind him. He spun around, his bewildered irises staring into the smug pair of the bound creature of the night. She smirked, enjoying his astonishment and growing dread. Naruto shook his head, her name escaping his lips in a whisper.

 **"The Moon…"**

No.

A vampire?!

A member of the Vampire King's court, at that!

But they're all meant to be dead, unable to be revived for their souls had been absorbed by…

He felt a detestable chill claw up his spine, a nauseating feeling now heavy in his stomach, as if a ball and chain had been tied to his gut and was now dragging him down into the bottom of the sea. He disappeared and reappeared in front of Peppermint Butler in a flash, his hackles now raised, desperation and anxiety evident in his voice.

 **"Where is Marceline?!"**

Unfortunately, the butler was currently frozen in surprise, having not expected the fox to suddenly appear before him. Naruto let out a snarl of annoyance, ruby once again making an appearance in his sapphire irises, their colour now similar to that of a garnet. Just as the saffron-furred canine was about to bark out his question once more, his focus set on the butler was broken by his ears twitching, the sound of metal scraping against metal catching their attention. Naruto watched as a horizontal safe placed against a wall of the room slowly opened, only for its door to get stuck. A second of silence passed, until the bangs of something hitting the stubborn door reached his ears. At each centimetre the door inched open, the amber fox's fur rose higher in his wariness as he crouched lower to the ground. After one particularly loud bang, the door flew open, revealing a pink-haired woman holding a sickly and delirious, black-haired one.

"What is going o-!" The pony-tailed, pink-skinned female scanned the room as she spoke, her eyes widening at the sight of the four unable to leave the floor, even more at the sight of the immobile vampire and once more at… _the fox_. A gasp escaped her lips as she recognized the quadruped before her, her identity sparking realization in the fox at the exact same time. "N-Naruto?!"

 **"Bonnibel. You look… different."**

The fox gave another frown at the princess's surprise, her reaction having mirrored Peppermint Butler's. Placing the train of thought to the back of his mind for now, he placed focus back on Princess Bubblegum, or rather, on the figure she held in her arms. Her hair was short now; it had been a few centuries since he had last seen her wear this sort of hairstyle. Well, "a few centuries" according to _his_ memory at least, as, apparently, it had already been more than just a few. Her skin, though, still held a similar bluish tint to her father's—maybe a shade paler—and her ears were pointed as ever… but she no longer had the bite marks on the side of her neck. The tell-tale sign that she was a vampire—or, he supposed, they _had been_ the tell-tale sign.

While Naruto scrutinized his best friend's shivering form, Bonnie shook her head out of her stupor and opened her mouth to fire question after question at the golden vulpine. But before she could, she bit her tongue back when she heard Marceline's pained groans. She looked down and winced at the black-haired, half-demon's distressed expression. She berated herself, reminding herself of the first priority. Saving her friend. She lifted her head, barely holding back a yelp at the sight of the large fox that had slowly made his way to the duo, eyes downcast and remorseful. She followed his gaze, and she too was saddened at the sight of the sickly-green slice in Marceline's arm, placed just below the shoulder. He leaned down to the injured arm and sniffed, eyes narrowing at the very familiar scent. He himself had been injured by the man once before, after all. It had _not_ been a fun experience. He was lucky for his… inherited, healing factor and immune system.

 **"Hierophant…"** He spat the name as if it were some vile concoction, his teeth bared as he scowled at the wound. Feeling his energy rise, he quickly shook his head and took a breath to calm himself. Right now wasn't the time to go on a rampage. Giving the slash one more look of dismay, he closed his eyes and focused. Not long after, emerald wisps of energy began to emanate from his body, the tendrils making their way to Marceline's arm in graceful arcs. Everyone conscious watched in awe as the strange power sealed the opening with a sizzle of smoke, the green tint of her skin disappearing along with the poison in her veins. Slowly, little by little, her distressed face slowly calmed. Once its job was done, the green energy dissipated into the air, Naruto leaning back and sitting on his haunches, eyes now staring a hole into Princess Bubblegum's head. **"…"**

Bonnie heard Naruto shift but kept her sights on the healed cut, she didn't need to look to know that he was silently asking for an explanation. "Hierophant. That was the name of the vampire that had poisoned Marceline in the first place. You know his name, so I take it that you know of the others?"

 **"Of course."** He eyed her warily before cautiously continuing his next line, judging her reaction. **"It may have already been a few centuries since their extinction, but I will always remember."**

A twitch of a finger and slight widening of the eyes. Insignificant details to others, but to him, they spoke a thousand words. He sighed. So, it was true… he really had been gone for seven hundred years. Noticing her clench her hands into fists, he sat patiently, waiting for the inevitable bombardment of questions. He was not disappointed.

Bubblegum gently laid the still-snoozing Marceline down on the ground before standing up and whirling around to face the calm Naruto, his serene visage the complete opposite of her own. "YOU!"

Naruto leaned his head to the side, staring curiously and coolly at the finger she was currently pointing at his nose. **"Yes?"**

"You disappear for hundreds upon hundreds of years, and all you have to say is "yes"? Oh, no no no! You've got a LOT of explaining to do, Mister!"

Naruto slid down to the ground, his stomach pressed flat against the cold, grass floor. He placed his head on his crossed arms, eyes trained on the female Abadeer's sleeping form as he spoke with the irate princess in a lazy tone.

 **"Let me guess… the whole "where have you been all these years", "what have you been doing" and "why haven't you contacted any of us" deal, right? Those were the questions you wanted to ask me?"** His ears fluttered at the sound of rattling chains before jerking back to face PB's direction, the long appendages upright and alert. Hearing no reply, he took the princess's silence as a yes and continued to speak. **"Unfortunately, Bonnie, even** _ **I**_ **don't know the answers to those questions, and I'm apparently the one who vanished in the first place."**

She sent him a disbelieving stare, incredulous. "How does someone just go under the radar for years and not even know where he was for all that time?!"

Naruto snapped his head the side, a snarl directed at Bubblegum. **"For the last time, I. Don't. KNOW! How many times will I have to repeat it for you lot to understand?! Boss left me in stasis here in the poison lab, to only be free if frozen Candyman over there ends up doing something so stupid with his research that we'd have to save his sorry ass! That's all I remember before I got released a couple of minutes ago and got dragged into this mess with the now-resurrected vampire and poisoned best friend! How am I supposed to know what Boss has been doing?! HE'S the one who's been able to run around, not me!"**

"W… Wait, did you just say b- Ow…"

The hiss of pain captured everyone's attention, their eyes set on the groggy vampire hunter. Naruto immediately stood at attention, craning his neck low to allow the raven-haired female to hold on to him for support, an invitation she gladly took. Marceline's head pounded, her vision doubling and blurring every now and then. But despite this, she forced herself to sit up, pointing a weak glare at the concerned canine before her.

"…Did you just say boss?"

* * *

[Minutes Earlier, With Marceline]

[Inside Marceline's Mind]

"Naruto…"

The name escaped her lips in a whisper; it was familiar, yet foreign at the same time. She stared at the blonde, head cocked to the side as she scrutinized his facial features. Ordinary human teeth, normal aquamarine eyes, standard curved ears and a trio of thin scars on each of his cheeks. Despite the scars, he seemed like your average human. Just your usual, common, run-of-the-mill male who lived his life working for cash, shopping for groceries and other such things. She would have shrugged her suspicion off, if it weren't for the strange feeling in the back of her mind telling her that something was wrong. His current form seemed natural enough, but the pit in the bottom of her stomach was telling her otherwise. There was something not right about him.

Something… _un_ natural.

Unique.

She just couldn't put her finger on it…

Marceline felt like pulling her hair out of her head by the roots. How could things feel as if they were right AND wrong _at the same time_?! It didn't make any sense! However, so lost in her whirring thoughts was she, that the half-demon didn't notice the whiskered man stop his conversation with Simon. He excused himself for a moment and walked over to the frozen Marceline, the woman's ebony orbs too busy piercing the floorboards of the porch with a withering glower to notice his movements, the bouquet that had been held in her hands now lay forgotten on the ground.

Naruto walked over to his best friend, closing the door behind him as he anxiously sensed her distraught aura. He stood right in front of her and gently placed a hand on her shoulder, frowning when she flinched at his touch. "Hey, are you alright? You look pale… well, _paler_."

She didn't answer. She didn't even look at him. If she didn't let out a light gasp and completely freeze when he spoke, he could've sworn she hadn't even heard him. He let out a breath. She was making him worry. He clasped his left hand around her right elbow, his thumb making reassuring circles on her upper arm, whilst he used his other hand to tilt her head upwards by the chin. He gazed down at her with furrowed brows in woe, the sadness and pain in his stare making Marceline look up at him in bewilderment. It was as if the mere thought of her in distress caused him physical pain, the sight even more so. He leaned down, placing his forehead against hers. Caring azure bore into stunned onyx, their eyes unable to escape the other's.

"!"

Marceline tensed and her breath hitched in her throat, looking like a deer in the headlights. Naruto ignored her reaction. He stayed as he was and repeated his question, "Are you alright?"

She tried to break eye contact, but it was to no avail. She had been able to dart her eyes to the ground a few times, but her focus always gravitated back to him. It didn't help that he was so _close._ Realizing that he wouldn't let go until he got an answer, she forced out a reply, "I… I'm fine."

She held back a wince at his unconvinced arch of an eyebrow. She redirected her attention to the ground, closing her eyelids shut to ensure she didn't look back at the taller human. She heard him sigh, her heart breaking at the sorrow she felt within sound. He moved his other hand to her second elbow and placed a knee on the ground, craning his head back to inspect the indecisive scrunch of her face.

"Marceline…" At the sound of her name, her eyelids snapped wide open, surprised at hearing it from a different direction, "Please, I've been your best friend for so many years. I can tell that something's bothering you, making you sad… and I hate seeing you so sad. Please, tell me what's wrong so that I can help, Marcy? What's making you so sad?"

Her heart tightened painfully at his use of nickname, her temples giving another pulse of agony. Not able to take it anymore, she snapped. " _YOU_ are!"

He was taken aback. "W-What?"

She wasn't fazed and continued to yell, stepping back and away from his hold before beginning to pace in a circle angrily.

"You- this! EVERYTHING! It's all making my head hurt, and I don't even know _why_! This place seems so normal, but that's just it. It only SEEMS normal! It's the same with _you_. You _look_ like an ordinary human, you _act_ like an ordinary human, but you _being_ JUST an ordinary human seems… wrong, when it's also right. I can't- I- I just… I don't know what's going on anymore. Everything here is so confusing. It's making my head hurt, and I don't know WHY!"

Naruto watched her silently, preventing himself from moving, knowing that she needed to vent. After her rant, she stopped in her tracks and wrapped her arms around herself, letting out a sniffle as she attempted to hold back her tears. _This_ was when he'd had enough. He launched himself back up onto his feet and wrapped his arms around her. For a moment, she was startled. But soon enough she reciprocated his gesture, ignoring the throbbing of her skull and instead revelled in the warmth he emitted. She buried her face in his chest, the tears now flowing freely from the corners of her eyes. Naruto felt his shirt get damp and bit back a growl. Not from his shirt becoming wet by her tears, but by the fact that she was shedding tears in the first place. He let the underside of his jaw gently ghost over her scalp, letting his throat rumble in a calming purr. While this made her nerves less fried, it also made more of her tears fall at the unusual, heart-wrenching familiarity of it all.

"…"

"…"

They didn't know how long they just stood there, basking in the comfort of each other's embrace… but frankly, they didn't care. When she felt calm enough, she peeled her face off of his chest and inclined her head upwards, giving him a small, thankful smile until she noticed what a mess his shirt now was. "O-Oh! I'm sorry… I didn't-"

Naruto smirked in amusement as she started to rant again and placed his forehead against hers once more, successfully silencing her, a light dusting of red now on her cheeks. "Hey, don't worry about it. It's just a shirt. I'd much rather have a wet shirt and a happy Marcy, rather than a dry one and a sad Marcy."

She felt her blush deepen in shade, her eyes once again lost within his. Silence fell upon them, which was broken when Naruto frowned, Marceline now the one to look at him worriedly.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

He sent a small, sad smile. "It's just… something you said earlier has been bothering me."

"W-What did I say?"

He pursed his lips in thought, then sent her a weak, cheeky grin. "I dunno… you were pretty stubborn about not telling me anything earlier."

She cocked her head to the side, uncertain, but chose to play along with a little, playful smile of her own. "In the end, I still told you, didn't I? Now you gotta do the same thing."

He chuckled, but it seemed empty. Hollow. _Forced_. "I-It was when you were talking about me…"

He began to trail off, but Marceline wouldn't have any of it, urging him to continue, "Yeah? What was it about what I said?"

"What… What did you mean about me being _human_?"

The question caught her off-guard, and before she could inquire about it further, the world around them began to warp. Ash blackened the skies like ink dropped in water, slowly corrupting the calm blue and tainting its colour to transform it into dark coal. Manifesting in a swirl, the moon shone down brightly, yet menacingly. It seemed… off.

Marceline rolled her eyes, _'Oh, will you look at that. Another thing that seems off to me.'_

But before more sarcastic quips could be conjured in her mind, she felt herself being pulled into an embrace, a vicious growl filling her ears. She instantly turned to Naruto, and was surprised—yet, confusingly, somewhat relieved—to see that his features had changed.

His human ears were gone. Instead, a pair of golden, canine ears were atop his head, both pinned against his skull—a sign that he felt threatened. His beautiful cobalt irises were now a deep, glowing burgundy. His pupils, which had previously been spheres, were now thin, cat-like, vertical slits. The whisker-like lines on his cheeks were no longer thin, all six now thick and more defined, enhancing his animalistic look. The snarl on his face showcased his dangerously elongated fangs, the shine of his pearly whites and the sharp points of his teeth were just _daring_ for someone foolish to come and suffer their punishment. Feeling something brush against her arm, she glanced down and was surprised to see furry tails—all just as golden as his ears—protectively wrap her in a blanket of safety.

She felt him wrap his arms tighter around her, his glare trained on the celestial body hanging above their heads. Again, before she could ask her question, she was interrupted. But this time, not by the man who held her in his arms, but by a thunderous crack that came from the sky. She scanned the skies for the source of the deafening sound the moment it hit her ears. She let out a gasp while Naruto's growl became louder at the sight of the enormous, trowel-headed vampire perched on her namesake. Then, she heard a snap. Not like a twig snap or a finger snap, but the snap of a chain lock breaking. It was as if the self-healer was a catalyst, one than caused her memories of the Real World to come flooding back.

"YOU!"

The Moon let out a dark chuckle, an ominous grin on her face. Her two rows of many teeth glimmered in the night along with her murderous glower. She glanced over Marceline, more interested in the half-canine male behind her. **"Hello again, Fox."**

He bared his teeth, glaring at her with as much animosity as he could muster. **"Hello… Moon."**

 **"Fancy seeing you here, especially when you seem to be nowhere nearby in the outside world."**

Marceline's head moved back and forth, switching from speaker to speaker as they spoke, The Moon condescending whilst Naruto was short and clipped. Although she wanted to butt in, she remained silent, curious about where the conversation would lead.

 **"I have my shortcuts."**

 **"Yes… you have as many shortcuts as you do secrets, I hear; and you have** _ **many s**_ **ecrets."**

Marceline felt Naruto tense, his reaction urging her to look up at him with a raised eyebrow. Naruto felt her eyes on him and held back a wince. He didn't want to have this conference with the vampire anywhere near her vicinity, but he couldn't just leave her either. His eye twitched and he gritted his teeth; he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

 **"…It seems that I do."**

 **"So secretive and sneaky are you, that I had not even realized that you were still alive to this day. With your lack of presence, I honestly believed that you had been… exterminated, a long time ago. Killed to grant a predator a meagre meal or to gift a human a nice pelt or a crafted… what was it that they called those, again? Purses?"**

 **"I am no weak prey. I may be as immortal as them, but I'm afraid I am a fox, not a lizard. A canine, not a reptile."**

 **"But you** _ **could**_ **be** _ **.**_ _"_

The four words had been whispered faintly, but Marceline's demon ears had managed to picked up the ominous sentence. "Wait, what?"

The Moon flashed her a smirk, but continued on as if the other female never spoke.

 **"Oh, well. I suppose I an apology is in order… to the lizards, of course. After all, I just said that they were worth as much as an untrained cur like you."**

Naruto's fury rose at her barb. Crimson energy exploded from his body, and he could feel his humanoid bones begin to snap and reassemble to morph his form into that of a four-legged beast. However, before his transformation truly began, his anger's rise and The Moon's laughter were swiftly cut off by a beam of viridian light. Marceline watched, stunned, as the ray of light shone through her shirt. She placed a hand on her neck and was surprised to feel a thick cord. She hastily tugged it, the object the tough string tied to her neck appearing from under her shirt.

It was a necklace.

 _A beautiful jade necklace._

She grimaced, its light having grown brighter the moment the accessory had been freed from the confines of her clothing. It swayed in the breeze, the tiny bells at each side of the crystal ringing powerfully into the clearing at each shake, their sound causing the earth to quake and the wind to roar. Soon enough, the light became too blinding for her and she shut her eyes tightly, turning away to save her vision. The land beneath her feet then heaved, throwing her up into the sky, and the powerful winds carrying her away. Marceline screamed as she was whipped around every direction, her limbs flailing for anything to hold on to. As she panicked, she could faintly hear Naruto yelling.

Why?

She shook her head and attempted to fly herself to safety, but the winds were so strong that she could barely open her eyes, let alone move a centimetre by her own volition. Finally accepting the fact that there was nothing she could do, she let her body go limp, all her energy having been spent trying to escape the wind. Just as she relaxed, Marceline began to feel woozy. She could feel her consciousness begin to slip right through her fingers. She was tired, sleepy, and just before she fell blissfully into the world of darkness for a second time this day, she heard The Moon's deep voice speak once more until she trailed off into silence.

 **"I don't know what you did, Fox, but my grip on her conscious is beginning to fade. I can feel it- no, I can feel** _ **you**_ **. Somehow, you are here, yet right "outside" at the same time. Though, it seems that the one who is preventing me from using my powers is but a shadow. How curious…"** She let out a hum of thought, followed by a devilish cackle. **"Very well, I concede. I know when I have been beaten. HOWEVER, though** _ **I**_ **may have failed to defeat my foe in battle, I wonder if you will do the same? I felt the tremors, and I know the event a billion years prophesied is coming to pass. I wish you good luck, Fox. May you stand victorious in your clash with darkness… and** _ **not**_ **take its place."**

She let a final crow of haunting laughter, one that lasted until Marceline went out cold and could hear no more.

.

.

.

* * *

[With…?]

.

.

.

A figure knelt in a vast expanse of pure white, their form as still as a rock. They stayed on the ground, knees and hands placed against the glowing floor. Everything was as still and silent as it was empty, until the figure jolted. Their body convulsed, quivering without losing balance. Not long after, a gasp was heard and cerulean eyes flashed open. A bead of sweat slid down the side of their temple, their mouth slightly ajar. Adrenaline rushed through his veins and fear swirled in his eyes. Fear that was not for them, but for something else… _someone_ else. They pushed themselves off of the ground and hopped to their feet, the hairs at the back of their neck standing as a sickening feeling clawed up their spine.

"No…" The masculine voice echoed in the empty void, the head of its owner a mere blur as it continuously swivelled, inspecting the current setting with growing dread. "NO! We've been separated at the worst possible time! I need to find Marceline; this isn't her mind anymore. This… is _mine_."

He flinched, feeling a whispery voice akin to saccharine venom drip into ears.

 **"** _ **OURS, Naruto… Ours.**_ _ **"**_

"Shit… I need to find Marceline, NOW!"

In a flash, his canine features returned, their presence ignored. Naruto was too focused on running and _hoping_.

Hoping to find Marceline, before _it_ finds _them_.

 **"** _ ** **Hahahah** … Tick-Tock, Naruto… Tick-Tock."**_

* * *

[With Marceline]

.

.

.

"!"

Marceline heaved forward with a sharp intake of breath, heart palpitating and face dumbfounded. She felt as if she had been drowning for hours and gasped for air, gulping in as much as she could. As she attempted to regain her breathing, her wary, raven irises darted around, scanning her surroundings for any signs of danger. But to her bewilderment, there was no one around. The Moon was gone, and so was Naruto. In fact, there was _nothing_ around. Wherever she was, it was all just a plain of white, one that seemed to go on forever.

"What… just happened?"

She took a quick look at her body, looking for any injuries. She was surprised to see that she was wearing the clothes she had on during the battle against Hierophant. She didn't have the opportunity to get a good look at what she had been wearing during her "visit", but with how restrictive they had felt, she was definitely sure her previous outfit hadn't been this. She rubbed the back of her head as it swerved around, looking for anything that could help her with her confusion… and it seemed like her wish was granted. Just before she could move to stand, a whisper of sound managed to reach her ears. She froze, her ears twitching as she listened for the source. Soon enough, the stomps of someone's frantic footsteps were now audible, their yelling growing louder and louder as they grew closer.

"MARCELINE! Where are you?!"

She gasped. She knew that voice. Now that her memories of the land outside of this strange "dream world" were no longer being held back, she knew why it seemed familiar. She could never forget his voice.

She could never forget _him_.

She spotted him at the corner of her eye, running around like a headless chicken. He was still in his humanoid form. His wolf-like ears twisted in a panicked manner, most likely searching for any sort of sound that could give him a clue as to where she was, and his tails still swung behind him, all waving frantically. His eyes, however, were cerulean once more. His fangs had shrunk to their normal size, and the whiskers on his cheeks had thinned. Seeing him so distraught, she wanted to shout. To tell him that she was right here, that she was fine, unharmed.

But she couldn't.

She wanted to move and speak, but she couldn't seem to find her voice, or be able to move her limbs. Marceline just sat there and stared, burning his image into her mind. She felt her eyes begin to water. It had been so long since she had last seen him. They had been separated for more than twice as long as they had been together. Although she was happy to see him again, she couldn't help but begin to feel herself grow despondent.

 _"You know, the ones I was hunting with PB, Finn and Jake?"_

 _"Who?"_

When she had first "awoken" here, in what she assumed to be her mind, she had spoken to him as if he was a normal citizen of Ooo. When he didn't recognize her friends, she brushed it off, her memories of him having then been inaccessible. But now that she knew exactly who he was, she felt crestfallen at the fact that he didn't at least remember Princess Bubblegum, a friend that both of them had had for many years; even before his disappearance.

 _"Fox form?" He seemed confused. "And… vampires? What vampires?"_

The fact that he didn't even seem to remember their vampire hunting days or the fact that he even had a fox form should have clued her in that he wasn't real, that he was just a figment of her imagination. An illusion made by her greatest wish…

…Wait.

That didn't seem right.

She glanced down, spotting the necklace that dangled over her shirt, the fresh memories she had made before being swept up by the wind flashing in her eyes.

 **" _Hello again, Fox."_**

 **"** _ **Hello… Moon."**_

If he truly didn't know of the existence of vampires, then how did he know of The Moon? If he didn't know of his ability to transform into a fox, then how did he turn in the first place? Her sudden epiphany shot a jolt of electricity up her spine, fledgling suspicion beginning to crawl up into her mind.

 ** _"…and you have many secrets."_**

 _ **"… _It_ seems that I do."**_

Brief glimpses appeared one after another, Marceline now gritting her teeth while her hands found purchase in gripping the crystal necklace tightly in their palms.

 _ **" _Somehow, you are here yet right "outside" at the same time. Though, it seems that the one who is preventing me from using my powers is but a shado_ w. How curious…"**_

Outside? Then he was in the Real World, right next to where she was? Marceline knew that she should be happy, but… what did The Moon mean by "a shadow"? Not to mention, there were the more ominous words that left The Moon's fanged, mocking sneer…

 **" _But you could be."_**

 **"** _ **May you stand victorious in your clash with darkness…"**_

What did she mean? Who or what was he fighting? _Why_ was he fighting?

 _ **"… _a_ nd **_**not** _ **take its place."**_

Would she ever see him again?

She sniffled and choked back a sob, willing her tears not to fall as she pulled her knees up to her torso. Those six words struck her straight at her core. Would she ever see him again? Face him in the real world, and not in this world located within her mind? She didn't know whether to be disheartened, or to be angry that he had been lying to her earlier.

A couple of meters away from her, Naruto froze, ears standing tall and upright. Hearing another sound, his head immediately snapped towards its direction, eyes widening at the sight of Marceline. He saw her wipe her eyes and clutch her hands to her chest. With a twitch of his nose, he smelt the scent of salty water and he quickly bounded over to her.

"Marceline! There you are!" He skidded on his knees as he slid to her side, already inspecting her for any injuries. "Are you alright?"

"…"

She didn't respond. Taking her silence as a negative reaction, he snapped his fingers, a burst of forest-green energy sparking from his palm. He hovered his glowing hand over her hunched form, scanning for injuries. Sensing none, he furrowed his brows and regarded her with confusion. She wasn't hurt from her rather… rough, exit, yet the scent of tears and the feeling of sadness was still in the air. He wanted to say something, anything, maybe ask again what was wrong. But he didn't. All he did was sit there and stare.

 _'Damn it…'_ Naruto cursed, tightening a hand into a fist. _'What is wrong with me? Talk to her! She's your best friend, isn't she?'_

Isn't she?

But it had been so long since they'd last seen each other, let alone shared a simple conversation. He didn't know what to do. He was ashamed to say that he couldn't even talk to the person who had once been his closest friend and confidant.

 _'I wasn't even meant to be there.'_ His eyes slid to the crystal Marceline held in her hands, shining innocently. It gave dim pulses of light, ones timed to exactly match his heartbeat. _'If it hadn't alerted me about an intruder attempting to enter her mind, I wouldn't have come here.'_

Then, he suddenly felt an unexpected stab of pain in his left arm and bit his tongue to suppress a hiss. Hurriedly, he pulled back the sleeve of the tuxedo and winced at the sight of the bleeding gash on his arm. He saw Marceline begin to shift and swiftly covered it back up again, readying answers for whatever inquiry may come out her mouth.

"It's really you, isn't it?"

He wasn't ready for that.

Caught off-guard, he sat there blinking dumbly, right hand clutching his suit's left sleeve to his left wrist. "I-I'm sorry, what?"

"You're not just some trick or some weird ghost made by my messed up head, are you? It actually is _you_."

Finally comprehending what was going on, cursed.

 _'Damn it… we don't have the time for this!'_

He began to think of a way to get her out as fast as possible, something he couldn't get her to do unwillingly with her possession of his necklace. He shot it a subtle glare, the object glinting tauntingly at him in response. After a while, he came to a conclusion to continue on with the farce he had made earlier and attempted to "de-bunk" her supposed theory.

"I'm sorry Marcy, but I have no idea what you're talking abou-?!"

"DON'T LIE TO ME!"

Emphasis on "attempt".

Her head blurred to his direction, spheres of furious obsidian staring right into his soul. He slowly stood up, an action followed by an irate Marceline. He held his hands open at his sides placatingly, speaking softly. "Okay, okay. Let's just… calm down a bit, yeah?"

He knew from experience an angry Marcy was _not_ a good Marcy. Unfortunately for him, his words only seemed to add more fuel to the fire, eyes now a livid rose, the colour reminiscent to his own and her father's when irritated. She'd had enough of being confused and sad. It was time to be angry.

"Calm down? CALM DOWN?! No! I don't _want_ to calm down! My _best friend_ upped and left SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS ago to go who knows where, and after centuries and centuries of searching every corner of Ooo, upturning every rock and checking every other possible location for you to be in, I finally get to see you. Not in the Real World, but in my own mind. I'd be happy, because I at least know that he's fine and actually alive, but he goes and tries to convince me that he's. Not. Real. You acted as if you didn't know about your powers, but you used them on me just a minute ago, knowing exactly how to use and control them. You made yourself look confused as if you didn't know about vampires, but you knew who The Moon was and talked with her like you two were have a nice conversation over a cup of tea! And worst of all…"

Naruto's eyes were stuck gazing one the ground, unable to look her in the eye. "Marcy…"

She grimaced before steeling her resolve and forcing herself to overlook the misery in his voice, her own continuing on. "…And worst of all, you were just about to lie to me about you not being… well, _you_. That I was just going insane or imagining things. You were going to deny the fact that after all these years, my stupid, STUPID, and idiotic fox is still okay. That he's still alive and well out there, somewhere."

"…"

"…Why didn't you want to say anything? Why did you try to lie? Why didn't you contact us once in the hundreds of years you've been gone?!" She held her fists by her sides, body shaking in sadness and fury. "So many "whys", so many questions… and the only one who can answer them is you."

"…"

Tears escaped her control, the drops of liquid leaving trails as they slid down her cheeks. She bit her bottom lip, unable to deal with his silence. "Why won't you say anything?! You're so dang secretive all the time, it's why I blew up on you in the first place! I know what I said, I've repeated the words so many times to myself that I remember them off by heart, and I've regretted ever saying them to you that day. I know what I made you promise, but it was a mistake, I swear! I didn't mean to say it. I'm really sorry, okay?! Just… come home? Please?"

"…"

"I… I-I know "sorry" probably won't cut it, but… please, at least just answer me this. A-Are you really so ashamed of me, that you can't even look me in the eye or say a single word in response? Let alone see me again in the Real World?"

That got his attention. Naruto flinched, the blonde's head snapping upwards as if he had been struck by lightning. In a flash, his arms were wrapped around Marceline's shoulders, his arms tense and his hold tight. "NO. Don't you ever blame yourself for me leaving or having to stay away. It's not your fault, it never was. I assure you, I had my reasons, and although some _involved_ you, none of them were _because_ of you. I'm sorry if I made it seem like it was."

Her arms encircled his torso, forehead pressed against his chest, her words coming out as nothing more than a whisper. "If it's not because of me, then could you please come back? I'm sorry for making that promise. I was just so angry that I didn't know what I was saying until I'd already said it. You don't need to do it, just please come home."

Naruto pulled away from their embrace slightly and gave her a small, apologetic smile.

"I can't. Trust me, I'd love to, and if I could have, I never would have left in the first place. But I just can't. I have some place else to be, somewhere I can't leave unattended no matter how much I want to be by your side. I know I have secrets, so many I am unable to tell you about that it frustrates you, but trust me when I say that this is for the best. For you, for our friends, and for Ooo… _and for your safety._ "

His last four words were muttered so lowly, they were almost inaudible. If it weren't for Marceline having demonic hearing, she wouldn't have been able to hear him. She then shook her head and placed that train of thought to the back of her mind for now, opting to focus on the conversation at hand. "It's because of what The Moon said, isn't it? What did she say again? "May you stand victorious in your clash with darkness"? Look, I don't know what you're doing or what it is you're fighting, but you don't have to do it alone. Let me help. Let _us_ help. PB and Peppermint Butler have been worried about you too, you know, and you'd love Finn and Jake. They're basically just two versions of you!"

A deep chuckle reverberated in the dandelion-haired man's throat, a grin on his face, "I'll look forward to reuniting the old gang back together, and I think I'd enjoy meeting Finn and Jake… someday. Unfortunately, that day isn't today. I'm afraid I'll have to turn you down on that offer. I can handle this on my own. If I ever need help, I'll turn to you guys. But for now, just… focus on having fun, yeah?"

"But-!"

Before she could protest, a bloody hack tore through Naruto's throat, surprising them both. For a moment, time froze. Marceline could only stand and watch with wide eyes as a trail of crimson liquid dripped down his chin, her hands covering her mouth in horror. Naruto, too, was still. Confusion and pain flashed in his irises when another cough was ripped out of his chest, urging more blood to flow past his lips. Feeling a surge of pain, he tilted his head down and blinked at the sight of his reddening, white shirt, feeling the three ghastly claw marks sliced into his torso hidden by the once-pristine article of clothing. When his mind finally caught up with the situation, he let out a pained gasp in realization, gruffly uttering a curse as he fell to his knees.

"…Damn."

His face scrunched up in agony, his arms now forming an "X" over his chest in an attempt to alleviate the pain. The thump of his knees colliding against the sturdy floor snapped Marceline out of her stupor. She was knelt in front of him in a second, hands trying to pry his arms away in order to assess the damage.

"H-Hey! What's wrong? C'mon, let me see. Maybe I could help-!" Marceline was cut off once more, this time by Naruto's arms circling around her shoulders and pulling her close, trapping her with her hands between their chests and her head placed above his shoulder. "W-What are you doing?! You idiot, this isn't the time to be messing around!"

She attempted to escape his hold, but the more she struggled the stronger it became. Naruto ignored her complaints and attempts to escape, glaring at the air in front of him with a blood-stained grin.

"So… you found us after all." Marceline, at the sound of his voice, paused her attempts to escape, confused. "Of course you'd strike while I was busy. After all, you don't know the definition of fighting fairly, do you?"

"Who are you talking t-?!" Before she could question him, she bit her tongue at the sound of a gravelly chuckle, one deeper and more malicious as The Moon's. She tried to see what made such a villainous cackle, but a hand from Naruto prevented her from turning her head.

 **" Of course. Anything to end this bothersome **_**battle**_ **… or, more preferably, YOU.** **"** It gave another laugh, sending shivers up the half-demon's spine. **"** **Though, you do have to agree, is there really such a thing as a "fair" fight, Naruto?** **"**

At its inquiry, Naruto gave a chuckle of his own before replying, "I suppose you are right. All's fair in love and war, right? But… please do save the savagery until I have moved a certain female out of our… _shared_ , mind? I thought you'd wish to "end" me whilst we were fighting on even terms, to drive home your statement of me being a mere flea in comparison to you or whatnot."

It gave a hum of thought. After a few tense seconds, it spoke once more, amusement laced within his words. **"** **Very well. It matters not. In the end, it shall be I who stands victorious and it shall be you who will be nothing but a crimson smear at the bottom of my feet. We may have been equals before, but now, the tides have turned. Unfortunately for you, they have turned to MY favour. "**

As if taking its words as cue, another cough was heard from Naruto, making Naruto wince. She wanted to do something—anything—to help, but she couldn't even move more than a centimetre in her current position and could only watch the back of his head worriedly. Tears fell from her eyes, a slight sniffle escaping her lips as she felt her hands become wet.

She knew what was dampening her hands.

It was blood.

 _HIS_ blood.

She could just _feel_ whatever that voice belonged to smirking at her back, smug at the fact that it managed to injure him.

"…Marcy, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

She would be surprised, but after being his best friend for hundreds of years, she just couldn't be anymore. She'd grown used to him sending her off or running away to fight battles all by himself, even if he knew he'd end up on the losing side. After living their childhood together, she supposed that if she really thought about it, she'd been used to this ever since they had been young. Him running off and attacking the animals, her stuck watching from afar, asking him afterwards to stop the madness… him never listening and them repeating the cycle. She'd grown used to not being able to keep him from being a self-martyring knight in shining armour, and he'd grown used to giving his life at the smallest sign of danger in order protect everyone but himself… she wished they never had to in the first place.

He took responsibility after responsibility on his shoulders as if they were only his to bear. He'd burden himself with the problems of others, not caring about his own. He'd willingly risk his own life at the drop of a hat, to shield those he loved from the smallest of things…

…And she hated it.

She hated the feeling of his blood covering her hands and sliding through her fingers. She hated him always running off and fighting. She hated him always ending up injured.

She hated the feeling of always being powerless to stop him.

"…No."

"Excuse me?"

"I said NO!"

She pushed herself away from him, using his momentary shock to her advantage, and managed to free her hands before she was once again caged within his arms. With her arms now usable, she did whatever she could in order to fully free herself. Hands pushing, nails scratching, arms flailing… it was all futile, however, as Marceline didn't use as much strength as she could, not wanting injure him more. She attempted to fly away, but azure, ethereal chains stopped them before they lifted a mere millimetre off of the ground. Naruto let out a grunt, then a sigh.

"Marceline… please. Just listen to me."

"NO. You _always_ do this. You take everything on your shoulders and try to deal with things by yourself, not letting anyone help! If anyone were to just _ask_ , you'd jump in a volcano to get something you already know doesn't even exist. Just because someone _asked_. You always said that "you'd die before you'd let anything happen to those precious to you". You'd say it to PB, to Pepp-Butt… to _me._ You say it and have done so many things to back it up _so many times,_ but you don't even think about how WE feel about it!"

"W-What?" was all Naruto could say as he held the sobbing Marceline in his arms, unable to think of any other word to utter.

"What do you mean "What"?! Do you think we enjoy seeing you bloody and beaten? Do you think we like seeing you coming back nearly dead, because you thought it was smart to go on a quest _by YOURSELF_ when you thought it was too dangerous for _us_ to go _with_ you? Do you think that we're happy when you say that, when ninety percent of the times we've seen you is when you're in the damn INFIRMARY?!" Marceline paused her words, taking deep, raggedy breaths in order to calm herself, her heart beating a mile a minute due to adrenaline. "…Whenever we struggle with things in our lives, you're the first to step up. You're the first to ask. You're the first to _help._ If you won't let us deal with things by ourselves, then what makes you think that we'd ever let you have to do the same? Just… at least for _once,_ let us—let _me_ —do the same. Let those who _love_ you help you like you did them! Just… _let me help_."

Silenced rang clear through the area, until a sigh from Naruto took its place. "…Oi, you troublesome thing. I know you can hear me."

Not expecting his response, Marceline could only let out a, "Huh?"

"You're the thing that let Marceline in here in the first place, and you're the only thing keeping me from getting her out. For once, stop being rebellious to me and pull her out of my mind."

The ex-vampire was confused, until she felt something pulse on her chest and felt the sound of chiming bells sneak into her ears.

Was he… talking to the _necklace_?

"I get what you're saying. I know you can help, and I know she can too, but… this is my battle. We both know that this was something I was literally made to do. So, please… let her go."

For a moment, nothing happened… and then she felt it shift. She felt it pulse again and again, but each throb became weaker and weaker, like a dying heartbeat. The necklace's bells sang a calming tune, one that made Marceline's eyelids involuntarily fall. Now understanding what he was doing, she tried to protest.

"No… D… Don't…"

"Sorry, Marcy… but ya gotta go. Trust me, life out there is much better than one in here. Besides…"

She felt him thread his fingers through her hair soothingly like he always did decades ago, before his disappearance. She felt her shoulders sag, his chuckle lessening the adrenaline in her veins even more.

"…my demons are not ones meant to be seen by an angel."

* * *

[In the Real World]

[With Marceline]

 _'I swear… the next time I see that stupid blonde I'm gonna tie him down with as many chains as possible and have Jake supersize himself so that he can sit on him.'_

Her head felt as if knife after knife was being thrown at her skull, their pointed blades imbedding deep into the bone while her ears could only hear static, like they were connected to a broken TV. She tried to open her eyes, cracking her eyelids open for a moment, but the moment colour became visible, she immediately felt nauseous. Her body was weak. She attempted to at least sit up, but her limbs felt so heavy, she might as well have been swimming in tar while chains pulled her to the center of the planet. She wanted to squirm and wriggle in her agitation, but immediately cancelled that thought when faint, whispery, voices began to ring in her ears.

"You… hundred… -ears… and all… "yes"? Oh… you've… LOT… Mister!"

 _'Is that… Bonnie? And…'_

 **"-Released… minutes ago… got dragged into… mess with… vampire and… best friend!"**

 _'NARUTO!'_

As said blonde spoke, the static in Marceline's ears began to clear up, making his words more audible.

 **"…How am I supposed to know what Boss has been doing?! HE'S the one who's been able to run around, not me!"**

 _'Boss… wait! BOSS?! Does that mean that this one's just a…'_

Her mind flashed back to when The Moon spoke with Naruto.

 _ **"… _Thoug_ h, it seems that the one who is preventing me from using my powers is but a shadow. How curious…"**_

 _'That could be it! But… I… gotta… make sure!'_

Slowly, she forced herself up with pained grunts, all the while sending an annoyed glower at the troublesome fox before her.

"…Did you just say boss?"

* * *

 **Crazy7634: Aaaand, that is ALL folks! So, didja catch the references I put in there? There were multiple references that pointed to two other cartoon shows.**

 **I wonder if anyone got them…**

 **Anyway, the chapter title itself ("My Demons") is a reference as well. It's the title to one of Starset's songs. I'd been listening to it whilst I wrote this chapter.**

 **:P**

 **[IMPORTANT NOTICE]**

 **Again, classy. As for this notice, it's for one that I had written in the author's note above which is (obviously) related to the story and how its plot will go. Now, for those who don't like to read large paragraphs, there is a summary right underneath the big explanation.**

 **Welp, that's all from me. See ya guys next time, and please, wish me luck on exams.**

 **T^T**


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